Research snapshot · Development · 13 September 2026

Historic preservation across the country: 96 towns on the record, the pace easing

This page is a snapshot, cut 13 September 2026, of a topic that moves. Below is the shape of the movement, read from the towns' own meeting records, and the way to get a view of it that stays current.

Historic districts and landmark designation, review of exterior alterations and demolition, and the ordinances and surveys that create or extend them.Our definition of the class.

Snapshot taken 13 September 2026, based on 149 dated municipal records flagged as historic preservation, spanning 96 municipalities across 29 states. The topic moves; a later cut supersedes this page.

What this page is for one topic at state or national scope, told as a story: how it arrived, the shape of its movement, a dated snapshot of a moving record, and the door to a view of it that stays current. If it does not, write to us; that is what changes the next edition.

Source documents 3 of 4 on this page link straight to the town's own record. The rest are available on request. Ask for access.

The story so far

The record starts in California, 17 March 2009. Since then 96 municipalities in 29 states have put the topic on a meeting record, at very different speeds: Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont hold 63% of the dated events between them.

The last 90 days put 6 meetings on the record, well down from 21 in the 90 days before. 1 more is already on posted agendas.

It runs through the rooms where budgets and ordinances are made: Historic Preservation Commission, Planning Board and City Council.

The shape of the movement

Dated meetings on the record at this scope, quarter by quarter, and the same 90-day count as a rolling line, whose right-hand point is that number. Counts of documents, never a reading of what they decided.
QuarterMeetingsTownsStates
Sep 2025 to Nov 20251162
Dec 2025 to Feb 2026393214
Mar 2026 to May 2026211610
Jun 2026 to Sep 2026 (current)652

a rolling 90-day total, so the right-hand point is that same 90-day count. The busiest stretch was Dec 2025 to Feb 2026, with 39 meetings.

Where it is moving29 states

The same topic at different speeds in different states. A state's name opens its own page where one exists.
StateTowns on the recordMeetings, 90 daysLatest
Maine214 ▼ -55.6%2026-09-08
Massachusetts182 ▼ -33.3%2026-06-22
New Hampshire802026-04-08
Vermont602026-06-12
New York lighter read402026-02-20
California lighter read302026-02-10
Pennsylvania lighter read302026-03-25
Arizona lighter read302025-04-23
Illinois lighter read302025-04-14
New Jersey lighter read302026-03-24
Iowa lighter read202026-03-03
Washington lighter read202026-05-13
Connecticut lighter read202026-02-03
Idaho lighter read102024-03-20
Alabama lighter read102026-04-07

And 14 more states on the record, in an account view.

From the record

The most recent documents behind this page, one per town. Each link opens the town's own file.

8 September 2026 · Saco, Maine Historic Preservation Commission

the minutes, on the town's own site HPC_Draft Minutes_8.13.26.pdf

1 July 2026 · Berwick, Maine Agendas Minutes And Videos

the minutes, on the town's own site Agendas Minutes And Videos — July 1 2026

22 June 2026 · Gorham, Maine Historic Preservation Commission

the agenda, on the town's own site Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Agenda

22 June 2026 · Randolph, Massachusetts Town Council

the agenda, on the town's own site Town Council Meeting (PDF)

Companies on this record388 companies, 111 documents

Named in the same documents that carry this topic, read from the record itself: the firms designing, building and advising the work, each with where the record places them:
National Park ServiceAndover, Bangor, Lewiston and 3 more
ComcastBrunswick, Franklin, Montpelier
Maine Forest ServiceBrunswick, Falmouth
Planning and Community Development DepartmentBillerica
Community Development DepartmentCottonwood, San Gabriel
CVRPCMontpelier, Williamstown
Secretary of the InteriorAndover, Lewiston
Architectural Resources Group (ARG)San Gabriel
Baked on MaineBrunswick
Christiane McAllisterStratham
Cultural Alliance of MaineLewiston
ElevensesBrunswick
Fiesta Bowl LLC (Bolos)Brunswick
Maine Career and Technical Education Region 10Brunswick
Matt & Tracy FlaniganKennebunk
Ritual Bakehouse & PatisserieBrunswick
SpectrumSan Gabriel
Stratham Hill Park AssociationStratham
A Place at HomeAndover
A. MillerLos Altos Hills
ABENAKI WATER COMPANYBow
Adobe (ADBE)Montpelier
Advance Auto Parts (AAP)Montpelier
Advanced Drainage Systems (WMS)Montpelier
AES Corporation (AES)Montpelier
AgeSpanAndover
AirdekoYarmouth
Airgas (AIQUY)Montpelier
Airy’s Construction IncPalos Park
Alexander & Baldwin, LLCMaui County

And 358 more companies.

The documents naming each, and the threads they sit in, are the account view. If one of these is you, those are your projects on the record. Ask and we will show you every one, and the towns around them, as they move.

A snapshot of a moving record

Everything above is frozen at 13 September 2026; the topic is not. 32 more events on this topic carry no usable date and are counted, never dated. The counts follow where we read most: a town or a state absent here was not read at depth, and absence is not evidence the topic is absent there. A lighter-read state is not a ceiling; where you care about a region, pointing the system there is the first thing an account changes. How coverage is built, and its known limits: municipalalpha.com/methodology.

How we can tell you about it ongoing

We track this topic continuously; this page is one cut of it, taken 13 September 2026. An account turns the snapshot into a working view: every town and every document behind these counts, the thread on each matter as it develops, word of new meetings as they land on the record, your own states and topics side by side, and the data itself when you want it in a table. The towns above are the taste; what each is actually deciding, funding or stalling is the read an account carries.

Each state's name above opens its own page. Counts and dates are computed from the documents on the record; the topic and its definition are ours. This page carries no subscriber content.

Historic preservation, across the country

from the towns' own meeting records

Scope

Across the country

Area

Development

every topic in this area

Towns on the record

96

with a dated document on this topic

States on the record

29

counted from the record

Earliest

17 March 2009

the documents' dates

Meetings, last 90 days

6 against 21 before

dated documents

Snapshot cut

13 September 2026

this page's date

A view that stays current

ask for yours