The Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office is conducting an historic buildings survey of Dawes County. The historic buildings survey will attempt to comprehensively identify historic buildings and cultural resources throughout the county. The survey is intended to assist citizens and elected officials of Dawes County with historic preservation planning, tourism promotion, and economic and community development. The survey will also serve as a new source of information about the history and development of Dawes County and, it is hoped, provide support to and information for Dawes County historical societies.

The State Historic Preservation Office is planning to participate in several public forums to explain the nature and purpose of the survey, answer questions and solicit information from the citizens of Dawes County. A "kickoff" public meeting will be held:

Wednesday
November 10, 2004
Senior Citizen's Community Center
251 Pine Street, Chadron
7:00pm

The meeting will consist of a presentation followed by an opportunity for questions and public input. Additionally, other programs administered by the Preservation Office will be briefly discussed, including the National Register of Historic Places, income tax credits, and the Certified Local Government program. Please join me at the meeting, along with Bill Callahan, Public Programs and Resource Planning Program Associate, and Stacy Stupka-Burda, National Register Coordinator. The consultants hired to complete the survey, Camilla Deiber and Amy Dixon of Louis Berger, Inc., will be present and available for questions.

The State Historic Preservation Office is requesting the assistance of Dawes County residents for the historic buildings survey. Generally, the survey team will only examine properties visible from the public right-of-way. However, many historic rural properties are not accessible or visible from the public right-of-way. Additionally, many properties are not immediately identifiable as historically significant. In order to fully understand and identify historic resources, the survey team needs help from the local community. Bill Callahan, Preservation Office staff member, stated: "It's very important for our office to have as much public input into the survey process as possible. The survey is intended as a resource for the citizens of Dawes County, and it's important that we hear from them in order to discover and study historic resources we would otherwise be unable to find or recognize." Callahan urges people to attend the public meeting and to tell friends and neighbors about the survey and the meeting.

The project is administered by the Nebraska State Historical Society's historic preservation office. Funding, in part, is provided by a federal grant from the U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Questions about the Dawes County Historic Buildings Survey should be directed to Jill Ebers, Historic Buildings Survey Coordinator, or to Bill Callahan, Program Associate, by phoning toll-free 1-800-833-6747.