Frederick Historic District National Register Update Informational Meeting - January 11, 2022
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Frederick Historic District National Register Update Informational Meeting
On January 11, 2022, the City of Frederick held a virtual public informational meeting to present the long-awaited update to the Frederick Historic District National Register nomination. Led by Historic Preservation Planner Lisa Morazzick Murphy and consultants from Gray and Pape Heritage Management, the meeting outlined the nomination's expanded historical context, revised boundaries, and updated property surveys. No decisions were made; the meeting was for information and public input only.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jim (Duke Smart), a planner and member of the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage Society (ARCH), praised the effort as "real scholarship" and commended the inclusion of underrepresented communities, particularly the 20-plus pages on African American history. He suggested four areas for boundary consideration: (1) the entire Hood College campus (significant to women's education), (2) the historically African American Maplewood neighborhood behind Lincoln School (mid-20th century), (3) the old Washington Street School property (now Boys & Girls Club, modern building, but he suggested keeping it as non-contributing with Madison Street as boundary), and (4) the synagogue property on North Market Street (built in 1980s/90s, he proposed not excluding that notch and keeping North Market Street as boundary).
- Heidi Sproot, a resident of Warman's Mill community, asked (1) whether the Google Maps shown during the presentation could be posted on the city website, and (2) for a summary of differences between the current amendment and the 1988 nomination. Consultant Carrie responded that a boundary change discussion exists in the nomination document, that the update aimed to supplement rather than subtract information from the 1988 nomination, and that GIS data with photos would eventually be available on the city website; a PDF of the presentation slides could also be made available.
Discussion Items
- National Register Background: Lisa Morazzick Murphy explained that the National Register is largely honorific; listing does not require HPC review. Properties in the city's own Historic District (yellow zone) already require HBC review, but the National Register update does not affect those boundaries. Benefits include eligibility for federal/state tax credits.
- Nomination Update Goals: The 1988 nomination was overdue for updating. The update aimed to incorporate a fuller history of Frederick, specifically African Americans, women, workers, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. It also revised boundaries, updated contributing/non-contributing lists, and added new photography.
- Significance and Period of Significance: The nomination uses Criterion A (events) and Criterion C (architecture) with a period of significance from 1745 to 1941 (start of WWII). The 1941 end date was retained because post-war development patterns shifted significantly.
- Boundary Expansion: The updated district now encompasses 844 acres and 3,668 properties, with 85% contributing and 15% non-contributing. The expanded boundaries primarily pull in adjacent areas that illustrate the same themes as the 1988 district, using historic maps and tax records to identify properties built before 1941.
- Contributing/Non-Contributing Determination: Every property within the new boundaries was surveyed. Non-contributing properties are either post-1941 or altered beyond recognition of the historic period. The city worked to ensure fair and accurate assessments.
- Consultant's Response to Caller: Carrie noted that the synagogue property is actually within the boundaries but is non-contributing due to its late construction date (the original synagogue on West 2nd Street is contributing). Hood College was not included because it has its own National Register nomination. The Washington Street School was removed because the historic school building is no longer present. The Maplewood neighborhood (post-1941) was not included due to the 1941 period of significance, but the city may continue to study its importance.
- Next Steps: The nomination has been submitted to the Maryland Historical Trust. It will be reviewed by the Governor's Consulting Committee on the National Register, then (pending favorable recommendation and state historic preservation officer concurrence) forwarded to the National Park Service for final listing.
Key Outcomes
- No decisions or votes were taken; the meeting was informational only.
- The nomination is publicly available on the city's preservation website (CityofFrederickMD.gov/preservation) for review and comment.
- Written comments can be submitted to Lisa Morazzick Murphy via email or phone.
- The city will work to post presentation slides and eventually GIS data with contributing/non-contributing status online.
- The Historic Preservation Commission has several vacancies; interested parties were encouraged to contact the planning department.
Meeting Transcript
Hi, welcome. Good evening. My name is Lisa Morazzick Murphy. I am one of the historic preservation planners for the city of Frederick. And tonight we have our public informational meeting regarding a project that's been in the works for quite some time. It's the Frederick Historic District National Register nomination update. We have with us also consultants from our city's consultant Gray and Pape Heritage Management. And so I'm going to start off with just some brief introduction slides and then hand it over to them to talk more about the project. I do want to note that this isn't a hearing of the HBC. There's not going to be any decisions made tonight. And we will have a portion at the end of Gray and Pape's presentation where you can call in with questions or comments, and we'll also have my contact information available so that questions can be sent in at a later time. If there's something we can't answer tonight, I am making note of those, and we'll do our best to get back to you with an answer. Okay, so I want to start off with what is the National Register of Historic Places. It is the nation's official list of historic places that are worthy of preservation. The National Park Service administers the National Register program and coordinates public and private efforts to identify historic places and to protect them as well as archaeological resources. And at the state level, it is administered by the Maryland Historical Trust, also the also known as the State Historic Preservation Office. And I've got a lot of questions, and we get these all the time, even outside of this project is what does the National Register mean for my property? So it's it's largely honorific. So that means there's no HPC review required by being simply being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That is, you can be listed in the city's historic district and the national register. So of course, in that case, you would have to get HBC review. But for example, the the yellow district is the district that's designated by the city as the Frederick Town Historic District. That's a zoning overlay, and that requires HBC review. And this one can be a little bit confusing. The names are similar, but if you are simply your property is simply located in the orange area and not the yellow city district, you do not need to get HBC approval. So anything that's being updated as part of this national register nomination has no impact on the boundaries in the yellow and what may or may not require HBC approval. And there are some benefits for being on the National Register. It can make you eligible for federal and state income tax credits for rehabilitation work. Also state state funded actions and permitted projects as well. It was updated in 1988. So it's been long overdue for updating. And one of the goals of this was to have the historic context that is part of the nomination updated to incorporate a fuller history of the city, specifically looking at African Americans, women, the history of workers, immigrants, and the LGBTQ community, which were not addressed in the 1988 nomination. Also looking at the revised boundaries or looking at the boundaries, revising them, considering where they should be revised and updated where appropriate, based on you know several decades of significant development that needed to be reassessed, and then updating the contributing and non-contributing list and map and updated photography. So the next steps is the nomination has been completed and it's been submitted to the Maryland Historical Trust, and it will be scheduled for the Governor's Consulting Committee on the National Register. They will review the nomination. We have the opportunity to review National Register nominations. And then pending a favorable recommendation, and then concurrence by the State Historic Preservation Officer will be forwarded to the National Register Office of the National Park Service for final action and listing at that point. So at this point, I'm going to turn it over to oh no, I just want to make one unrelated plug. The historic preservation commission is in uh need of members. We have several vacancies on the commission at this time. So if you're tuning in, maybe you're interested in historic preservation and you'd like to be on the commission. Um this flyer is up on the screen. It's available. You can um you know pull it down from the HBC's Facebook page. Also just call the planning department or myself to find out how to submit your resume. Also, there is a um, if you're also interested, there's a vacancy on the zoning board of appeals and on the planning commission, and there's some information there about how you can do that. Again, uh, feel free to call the planning department with any questions about how to do that. So, yes, with that, I will turn it over to um Carrie and her team, and then at the end, like I said, we'll come back for questions and comments. Thank you. Thank you, Lisa.
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