National Heritage Area

In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some of which use variations of the title, such as National Heritage Corridor.^[1]

Map of the National Heritage Areas in the continental United States

National Heritage Areas are neither National Park Service units or federally owned or managed land. NHAs are usually administered by state governments, non-profit organizations or other private corporations, referred to as "local coordinating entities". The National Park Service provides an advisory role and limited technical, planning and financial assistance, in a form of Public–private partnership.

Each area has its own authorizing legislation and a set of unique resources and goals. Areas considered for designation must have specific elements. First, the landscape must be a nationally unique natural, cultural, historic, or scenic resource. Second, when the related sites are linked, they must tell a unique story about the U.S.^[2] NHAs may often geographically overlap each other, and may also overlap portions or entireties of federally owned or managed land, National Park Service units and other protected areas. To date, more total NHAs, as well as more total acreage of land, have been designated east of the Mississippi River.

Legislative history

The first NHA created, the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor, located in Illinois, was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on August 21, 1984.

The National Heritage Areas Act of 2006 designated ten new NHAs and authorized three studies of potential NHAs. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 12, 2006.

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 designated ten new NHAs. The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2009.

The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 laid out procedures for planning and management of NHAs and designated six new NHAs. It was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 12, 2019.

The National Heritage Area Act of 2022 established a National Heritage Area System and created a standardized process for the Department of the Interior to provide financial and technical assistance to NHAs.^[3] The law also provides a process for the study and designation of new NHAs and evaluation for existing NHAs. It authorized three studies of potential NHAs and established seven new NHAs.^[4] The bill was passed by the Senate on December 20, 2022 by unanimous consent and the House on December 22 (on a vote of 326-95), and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on January 5, 2023.^[5]

List of National Heritage Areas

Current

There are 62 National Heritage Areas, listed below with their respective local coordinating entity:

Area	State(s)	Designation Date	Local Coordinating Authority	Notes
Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area	Illinois	May 8, 2008	Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition
Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area	Alabama	January 5, 2023	Center for the Study of the Black Belt at the University of West Alabama
Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area	West Virginia and Maryland	March 12, 2019	Appalachian Forest Heritage Area, Inc.
Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area	Georgia	October 12, 2006	Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance
Atchafalaya National Heritage Area	Louisiana	October 12, 2006	Louisiana Office of Tourism, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism
Augusta Canal National Heritage Area	Georgia		Augusta Canal Authority
Baltimore National Heritage Area	Maryland	March 30, 2009	City of Baltimore
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor	Massachusetts/Rhode Island	November 1986
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area	North Carolina	November 10, 2003	Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership
Bronzeville – Black Metropolis National Heritage Area	Illinois	January 5, 2023	Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Commission
Cache La Poudre River Corridor National Heritage Area	Colorado	March 30, 2009	Poudre Heritage Alliance
Cane River National Heritage Area	Louisiana		Cane River National Heritage Area Commission
Champlain Valley National Heritage Area	New York/Vermont	October 12, 2006	Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership
Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area	New Jersey		Crossroads of the American Revolution Association
Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor	Pennsylvania	1988	Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Inc.
Downeast Maine National Heritage Area	Maine	January 5, 2023	Sunrise County Economic Council
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor	New York		Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
Essex National Heritage Area	Massachusetts	1996	Essex National Heritage Commission
Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area	Kansas/Missouri	October 12, 2006	Partnership Team
Freedom's Way National Heritage Area	Massachusetts/New Hampshire	March 30, 2009
Great Basin National Heritage Area	Nevada/Utah	October 12, 2006	Great Basin Heritage Area Partnership
Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor	Florida/Georgia/North Carolina/South Carolina	October 12, 2006	Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission
Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area	New York	1996	Hudson River Valley Greenway
Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor	Illinois	August 21, 1984	Canal Corridor Association
John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor	Massachusetts/Rhode Island	October 12, 2006	Blackstone River Valley Heritage Corridor Commission
Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area	Maryland/Pennsylvania/Virginia/West Virginia		The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership
Kenai Mountains – Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area	Alaska	March 30, 2009
Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor	Massachusetts, Connecticut	November 2, 1994	The Last Green Valley	Formerly the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor. Renamed December 19, 2014.
Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area	Pennsylvania	2000	Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority
Maritime Washington National Heritage Area	Washington	March 12, 2019	Washington Trust for Historic Preservation
Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area	Mississippi	March 30, 2009	Delta Council
Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area	Mississippi		Office of Coastal Management and Planning, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area	Mississippi	March 30, 2009	Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance
Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area	Utah	October 12, 2006	Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance
MotorCities National Heritage Area	Michigan	November 6, 1998		Initially named Automobile National Heritage Area
Mountains to Sound Greenway	Washington	March 12, 2019	Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust
Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area	Alabama	March 30, 2009	University of North Alabama
National Aviation Heritage Area	Ohio	2004	Aviation Heritage Foundation, Inc.
National Coal Heritage Area	West Virginia	November 12, 1996	National Coal Heritage Area Authority
Niagara Falls National Heritage Area	New York	November 2008
Northern Plains National Heritage Area	North Dakota	March 30, 2009
Northern Neck National Heritage Area	Virginia	January 5, 2023	Sunrise County Economic Council
Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area	New Mexico	October 12, 2006
Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area	Ohio	1996	Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition
Oil Region National Heritage Area	Pennsylvania	2004	Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism
Path of Progress National Heritage Tour Route	Pennsylvania		Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission
Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area	Pennsylvania	1996	Steel Industry Heritage Corporation
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area	California	March 12, 2019	Delta Protection Commission
Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area	Arizona	March 12, 2019	Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance, Inc.
Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area	Colorado	March 30, 2009	Sangre de Cristo NHA Steering Committee
Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area	Pennsylvania
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District	Virginia		Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area	Iowa	1996
South Carolina National Heritage Corridor	South Carolina	1996	South Carolina National Heritage Corridor, Inc.
South Park National Heritage Area	Colorado	March 30, 2009	Tourism and Community Development Office, Park County
Southern Campaign of the Revolution National Heritage Corridor	North Carolina/South Carolina	January 5, 2023	University of South Carolina
Southern Maryland National Heritage Area	Maryland	January 5, 2023	Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland
St. Croix National Heritage Area	U.S. Virgin Islands	January 5, 2023	Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office
Susquehanna National Heritage Area	Pennsylvania	March 12, 2019	Susquehanna Heritage Corporation
Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area	Tennessee	1996	Center for Historic Preservation, Middle Tennessee State University
Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area	Connecticut/Massachusetts	October 12, 2006	Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, Inc.
Wheeling National Heritage Area	West Virginia	October 11, 2000	Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation
Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area	Arizona/California	October 19, 2000	Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Corporation

Proposed

Area	State(s)	Passed by Congress	Ref.
Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area	Virginia	Study approved, in process	[6]
Ka‘ena Point National Heritage Area	Hawaii	Study approved, in process	[7]
Monterey Bay National Heritage Area	California	No
Guam National Heritage Area	Guam	Study approved, in process	[8]
Coastal Virginia National Heritage Area	Virginia	No
South Kona National Heritage Area	Hawaii	No
Nation's Oldest Port National Heritage Area	Florida	No
Calumet National Heritage Area	Indiana, Illinois	Study approved, in process	[9]
Lahaina National Heritage Area	Hawaii	Study approved, in process	[10]
Kentucky Wildlands National Heritage Area	Kentucky	Study completed 2019, criteria met	[11]
Chattahoochee Trade National Heritage Area	Georgia, Alabama	Study completed 2015, criteria not met	[12]
Kentucky Lincoln National Heritage Area	Kentucky	Study completed 2015, criteria not met	[13]
Finger Lakes National Heritage Area	New York	Study completed 2023, criteria met	[14]

See also

• Hispanic Heritage Sites (U.S. National Park Service)
• African-American Heritage Sites (U.S. National Park Service)
• Native American Heritage Sites (U.S. National Park Service)
• Women's History Sites (U.S. National Park Service)