national register nomination for boulevard park historic

promoted early American preservation efforts. Even in the 20 th century, when historic
preservation law created government bodies to deal with preservation, private and non-
government organizations first played an important role in the stewardship and
preservation of American historic buildings. Murtaugh mentions the National Trust for
Historic Preservation as the most significant non-government organization of this type.
The reader should note that the book’s publisher Preservation Press is the publishing arm
of the National Trust, and Murtaugh is their former vice-president.
Murtaugh’s periodization of the preservation movement begins with 19 th century
efforts to preserve nationally significant monuments associated with the early settlement
and political history of the United States. It proceeds to early 20 th century historic
districts, both designated (like the Battery in Charleston, South Carolina) 19 and created
(like Greenfield Village, Michigan.) 20
Districts like Greenfield Village and Williamsburg,
Virginia were paid for by philanthropic individuals who wanted to provide a tangible
connection for modern Americans to the rustic past, encouraging the maintenance of their
vision of the American character. Charleston’s establishment of an “Old and Historic
District,” in 1931, the first municipally zoned historic district, was a significant
divergence from the private historic building or district. Using city government’s recently
established power to define land uses through zoning, Charleston established the idea that
a neighborhood or building could be historic, and thus worthy of official protection, even
though its significance was primarily at the local level.
19
Murtaugh, Keeping Time, p. 58-59
20
Murtaugh, Keeping Time, p. 36-37
17