NEW BEDFORD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
APPLICATION FOR HISTORIC MARKER PROGRAM

The Marker Program now consists of three distinct marker types: Levels 1 and 2 that denote style, based on the following values of architectural significance, and a third marker (Level 3) that denotes a significant person or event having been associated with the property.

Levels 1 and 2 criteria:
• age of property, minimum of fifty years;
• architectural style - property must be clearly representative of its style or a combination of styles; altered properties would not necessarily be excluded, but the property must retain definite elements of its contributing styles. A change in exterior wall fabric (for example, replacing clapboards with wood shingles) would not automatically disqualify a property unless the change included wholesale destruction of architectural details.
• property must be well-maintained and appropriately restored with a paint color scheme suitable to the style and period of the property.

Level 3 criteria: an event or person of local, state or national importance associated with the subject property.

The Board reserves the right to designate any property eligible for a plaque by waiving any and all criteria, based on emergency situations such as, but not limited to, demolition or development.

REPLACEMENT PLAQUE APPLICANTS may disregard the following filing instructions and are not required to submit a filing fee.  Cost of a replacement plaque, if approved per above-listed criteria, is $100. 

FILING INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEW PLAQUES:
Please include with this application a non-refundable filing fee of $50 made payable to the New Bedford Preservation Society, Inc. – Historic Marker Program. This filing fee is to offset the costs of initial evaluation and is non-refundable. If your property is selected for the Historic Marker Program, the filing fee will be deducted from the full cost of the marker. The total cost for a Historic Marker is $250. The $200 balance will be paid prior to the initiation of any further research, photography, clerical processing, and the ordering of the marker.

This application should be accompanied by completed research on the subject property, compiled on a Form B, if available. Form B files are located at the National Park Visitor Center, 33 William Street, New Bedford, MA (508-996-4095). Submission of research with the application does not necessarily guarantee the subject building will be selected to receive a marker.

The New Bedford Preservation Society meets monthly, and you will be notified in writing of their decision, which is final. The fee for markers is based on research, photography, clerical processing, and the manufacture of markers, which work will proceed at all due speed, taking into account the amount of community response and research load. The New Bedford Preservation Society, Inc., is a non-profit organization, and although it would prefer not to charge property owners for markers, it is an economic necessity. The New Bedford Preservation Society, Inc., does not receive any local state, or federal funding which could offset the cost of this Historic Marker Program.

The Historic Marker will be affixed to your property in compliance with instructions of the New Bedford Preservation Society, Inc. The Society will grant a license for display of the Historic Marker to the approved property owner and any successor in title as long as the building is not altered to violate the criteria for granting the marker; and the marker shall remain the property of the New Bedford Preservation Society, Inc. The Society reserves the right to revoke this license for the above-stated reason and to retrieve the Historic Marker from the property.

Please print this form and return it with your check made payable to:
"New Bedford Preservation Society" and mail to: 
New Bedford Preservation Society
P. O. Box 1618,
New Bedford, MA 02741

Thank you!