Restored Charles Holloway murals adorn the Allen Co. courthouse rotunda. The photo
by Robert Pence of Fort Wayne won first place in the DHPA 2005 photo contest.
Restored Charles Holloway murals adorn the Allen Co. courthouse rotunda. The photo
by Robert Pence of Fort Wayne won first place in the DHPA 2005 photo contest.
T he DNR Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology has functioned as the State Historic Preservation Office for Indiana since 1981 when the Indiana General Assembly formally established the DHPA as a part of the DNR.
There are six individual, but coordinated, sections of the office that oversee a variety of federal programs: survey and registration, archaeology, architecture and tax credits, grants, historic structures review, and special projects.
The federal programs that DHPA administers in Indiana are all a direct result of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The act, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2006, created the National Register of Historic Places, provided for matching grants to assist state preservation programs, designed a process to address federally financed projects affecting historic and cultural resources, and created the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Additionally, the act created partnerships between federal and state governments by asking each state to create a state historic preservation office. Acting in that capacity, DHPA is an official partner with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.
