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Mountain Road Historic District Public Hearing

The Town of Halifax would like to remind all those interested that a Public Hearing will be held at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, May 13th at Halifax Town Hall, 70 South Main Street to review the Mountain Road Historic District Boundary Expansion and National Register Nomination Project.  The project, includes the addition of approximately 39 properties to the existing Mountain Road Historic District, which was listed on the Virgiia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places in 1983.  Information on the properties within the existing district boundary have been updated.  Properties within the proposed historic district boundary expansion have been surveyed, photographed and catalogued.  The project is made possible by a Cost-Share Grant from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR).

Marc Wagner, Architectural Historian with the Capital Region Office of DHR has served as project manager with Hill Studio of Roanoke serving as the consultant.  The Halifax County Historical Society has supported the project by initially providing valuable research and documentation of the historic properties in the expanded district.

Please attend the public hearing on May 13th to learn more about the project findings on the existing Mountain Road Historic District and the proposed boundary expansion.  Marc Wagner and the Hill Studio staff will provide an overview of the survey process and answer any questions.  The proposal has been recommended eligible for the Virginia Landmarks and National Registers and will be presented to the State Review Board and the Historic Resources Board on June 18, 2015 in Martinsville.  When the survey is complete, all information will be available to the public at Halifax Town Hall or the DHR Archives in Richmond.

A survey of the historic resources within the existing historic district and the proposed expansion area assists with town planning and development and is the first step to creating an accurate and comprehensive document for updating and expanding the Mountain Road Historic District which is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.  All property owners within and adjacent to the existing and expanded historic district will be notified of a public hearing to be held in May prior to the consideration of the updated historic district nomination by the Historic Resources Board at it June 2015 quarterly meeting.  Designation on the state or national registers places no restrictions on owners of property within the existing and proposed district expansion area.  However, listing properties as "contributing" to a district's historic character does enable its owners to seek federal and state tax credits for historic rehabilitations which must conform to specified standards for restoring historic properties.

The Department of Historic Resources also provides administrative support for the cost-share projects in addition to the grants.  In 1991 the Department of Historic Resources created the cost share program, which requires matching local funds, to assist localities in meeting a state mandate that they update their comprehensive planning every five years.  The funding for the program is determined by the General Assembly each year.  Cost-share awards are highly competitive.  Last year the Department of Historic Resources received 18 applications and funded 15 grants.  Past projects funded by the DHR Cost-Share Grant program include the Town of Halifax Corthouse Historic District and the Halifax County Historic Architectural Survey, which along with other resources, provided important data for the Halifax County Historical Society's upcoming publication, An Architectural History of Halifax County, Virginia.

Details about the Cost Share Program are provided on the website of the Department of Historic Resources at http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/survey/Survey1.htm.

For further information, contact Carl Espy, Halifax Town Manager (434-476-2343) or Alison Blanton, Hill Studio (540-342-5263) or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.