The Texas Historical Commission serves as a repository for a wide array of mitigation. These materials are produced when a federally funded project negatively impacts historic resources and can include photographic and written documentation, architectural drawings, context studies, and interpretive material. This material can be of great value to researchers and the public. In an effort to make the mitigation in the Texas Historical Commission's files more accessible, we are adding scans of our files to this page. This project remains a work in progress, and the available files are not comprehensive. Please check back for updates, or contact us for more information on our files. See below for more information on why mitigation is produced and to see some mitigation highlights from past projects.
Mitigation Materials in Texas Historical Commission Files
Visit our Historic Bridges pages for information produced in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation and as a result of mitigation for loss of historic bridges.
Why Mitigation is Produced
Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, federal agencies must consider the effects of their projects on historic properties. For projects that will have an adverse effect on one or more historic properties, the agency must develop and evaluate alternatives that would avoid, minimize, or mitigate the effect. See the Section 106 Review Process for more information.
While avoiding an adverse effect is the ideal outcome, in some cases this is not possible or it is simply not the outcome chose by the federal agency responsible for the project. While Section 106 review cannot require a preservation-oriented outcome, mitigation ensures that there is some local benefit despite loss or damage to a historic property. Mitigation often consists of documentation of a property that will be demolished to Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record, or Historic American Landscapes Survey standards. It may also include preparation of a National Register of Historic Places nomination, a historic context, oral histories, or interpretive materials such as a marker or sign, brochure, or website. Mitigation may also be given to a local repository or added to the Library of Congress collection. Links to the Library of Congress collection are included in the chart above, where applicable.
For more information, please contact Alexander Shane at 512-463-8952 or email us.