Division for Historic Preservation

Under the Department of Housing & Community Development

Flood Resources for Historic Properties

With evidence of Native American occupations extending as far back as 13,000 years ago, Vermont has a rich cultural, historical, and architectural legacy. This significant heritage manifests itself in the state’s ancient Native encampments, agricultural farmsteads with timber-framed barns and rising silos, villages with white-spired churches and town halls marking the valley bottoms and maple-strewn hillsides, downtowns centered on railroad depots and sites of early industrial centers, summer retreats surrounding lakes and ponds, and ski resorts nested on the slopes of the green mountains. The strata of history is a component of the built and natural environment, recounting the stories of Vermont’s buildings, economy, and communities. This legacy does not endure by chance.

Preservation of Vermont’s historic resources is the primary initiative of the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (VDHP). Serving as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), VDHP plays an essential role in guiding the state’s historic preservation agenda, keeping hundreds of years of history alive and vital, engaging people of all walks in Vermont’s past through collecting, preserving and discovering a shared priority and value for the human spirit that preceded us.

The programs of VDHP support the continued use of Vermont’s historical assets, and the integration of our history into our future planning and growth, job creation and communities’ culture. We foster preservation and rehabilitation, research and education, and interpretation and adaptive use of historic properties through grants, project review and compliance, and the operation of a statewide system of State-owned historic sites.

Our Mission

To fulfill our responsibilities under the Vermont State Historic Preservation Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation is dedicated to identifying, preserving, and interpreting historic resources on behalf of the citizens of the state and promoting them as significant components of our communities.