A large section of downtown Portsmouth has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Dozens of individual sites around Portsmouth are already on the national register, but the announcement made earlier this week adds over 1200 historic resources to the list in one fell swoop. Those resources include historic buildings, cemeteries, and archaeological sites.
Reagan Ruedig is a historic preservationist and sits on the board of the Portsmouth Historical Society. She says the benefits of being on the register include more than just prestige.
“It opens up a huge number of new incentives for buildings downtown for further preservation. There are no restrictions; it really is more carrots rather than sticks.”
Among the incentives are grants from the state’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, and federal tax credits for businesses undertaking preservation work.
