Get Familiar with Historic Preservation
February 28, 2025 | Ben White
Every year, May brings both warmer temperatures and Preservation Month to Missouri. Missourians are familiar with warm summers; but why do we celebrate Preservation Month and what makes historic preservation so important?
The National Trust for Historic Preservation leads the celebration of Preservation Month nation-wide inviting states, cities, and individuals to celebrate their historic built environment and unique cultural heritage as well as the preservation efforts it takes to preserve them. Main Streets join in celebrating Preservation Month to raise awareness and support their efforts to revitalize their historic commercial district.
Historic preservation takes the shape of safeguarding and protecting the historic built environment and cultural heritage of a place from damage or decay. Local Main Street organizations accomplish this through façade grant programs, story collections, education campaigns, awareness campaigns, celebrations, and more.
The preservation of a historic commercial district’s built environment entails preservation efforts focused on that community’s historic assets, which when preserved provide unique locations for businesses to occupy, residents to live, tourists to visit, and where all can enjoy. By utilizing the existing buildings in Missouri’s historic commercial districts, it preserves what makes each community unique from anywhere else in the world.
One act of physical preservation includes restoring the original building’s architecture from when it was constructed or working to preserve the remaining character defining architectural features of the building’s period of significance, if the building has been altered. While any act to preserve a building is appreciated, it is best to restore the building using proper preservation methods, which include selecting the period of significance based on the remaining features. By doing this, the building and its history can be saved and appreciated for years to come. This can be seen throughout communities in Missouri, such as St. Charles and Joplin, that tell the history of the downtown through its unique architecture that has been preserved through the centuries.
Missouri Main Street Connection’s Historic Preservation Committee creates educational historic preservation one-pagers to assist building and property owners as these restoration projects and its questions arise. These are available in the Historic Preservation Suite on our website: https://momainstreet.org/programs-trainings/historic-preservation-suite/
The preservation of a community’s heritage and culture encompasses the incorporeal part of its story. Each downtown developed in different ways, whether through the railroad, on the river, or some other influences that aided in the creation of the community and the historic commercial district. Through that development comes a storied past, such as Independence being the trailhead for the Santa-Cali-Gon trails or Washington being the location where twelve German Catholic families arrived in 1833.
These stories tell of the importance of a community’s heritage and of its development. Heritage that permeates a community throughout time and significantly impacts its development should be preserved to set it apart from others and create a sense of pride for residents. Preservation of heritage includes selecting unique stories that represent your community’s downtown history. In St. Louis, local volunteers of the Laclede’s Landing Main Street program are working to rename Clamorgan Alley to Ester Alley as well as activate the ally into a vibrant, usable space. They want to share the story of Ester, a former slave and mistress of Jacques Clamorgan, who became one of the earliest women to own property (Lacledeslanding.com). Like Laclede’s Landing, every downtown has a story to tell.
This May, we invite you to go out and explore the history of your community and across the state of Missouri for Preservation Month. Join in the celebration of the “Show Me State” by discovering the unique stories of Missouri’s people and places. Missouri Main Street Connection will be releasing a “Preservation State of Mind” booklet as your guide to Preservation Month 2025. This guide highlights historic preservation activities and experiences hosted by Main Street communities along with a notation on their historic resources and assets. You can find this booklet in select Main Street communities, Missouri Visitor Centers, and Amtrack Stations as well as digitally on our website.
