Recording America through Art, Photography, Illustrations, Architecture, and Historic Places

Learn more about how the U.S. Government documents and preserves architectural features, historic places, and heritage sites, including the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS), and National Register of Historic Places. 

HABS is the "nation's first federal preservation program, begun in 1933 to document America's architectural heritage."

• ^Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) | National Park Service

HEAR was established to "document historic sites and structures related to engineering and industry."

• ^Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) | National Park Service

HALS records "historic landscapes in the United States and its territories through measured drawings and interpretive drawings, written histories, and large-format black and white photographs and color photographs."

• ^Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) | National Park Service

This is the official register of the "Nation's historic places worthy of preservation."^ Learn more about the evaluation criteria and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that established this registry. 

• National Historic Preservation Act | Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 | National Park Service
• ^National Register of Historic Places | National Park Service
• State Historic Preservation Offices | National Park Service
• Tribal Historic Preservation Office Program | National Park Service

• Architect of the Capitol
• Architecture and Government | U.S. General Services Administration
• Cooper Hewitt Design Museum
• U.S. Patent & Trademark Office