Historic Nominations

The City of Pittsburgh is home to 15 historic districts. These districts are set up to preserve, rehabilitate, and continue to use historic buildings. In areas with a historic designation, the Historic Review Commission oversees any potential demolition, new construction, addition to, or exterior alterations of structures.

If you are interested in nominating a place to the register, contact Historic Preservation staff at historicreview@pittsburghpa.gov. Nominations are reviewed by the Historic Review Commission and approved by City Council.

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What does a City of Pittsburgh historic designation do?

• Protects the exterior character of an individual property or district by requiring review of projects to specific standards.
• Promotes sustainability by preserving buildings and building materials that already exist.
• Positively impacts property values, neighborhood revitalization, tourism, job creation, and tax revenue generation.

Read the Economic Benefits Report for more information.

Economic Benefits Report(PDF, 2MB)

What can’t a City of Pittsburgh historic designation do?

• Force an owner to restore their property.
• Force an owner to fix their property.
• Necessarily prevent a determined owner from demolishing their property.

What are the criteria for City of Pittsburgh historic designation?

• Location as a site of a significant historic or prehistoric event or activity.
• Identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the cultural, historic, architectural, archaeological, or related aspect of the development of the City of Pittsburgh, the State of Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic region, or the United States.
• Exemplification of an architectural type, style, or design distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design, detail, materials, or craftsmanship.
• Identification as the work of an architect, designer, engineer, or builder whose individual work is significant in the history or development of the City of Pittsburgh, the State of Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic region, or the United States.
• Exemplification of important planning and urban design techniques distinguished by innovation, rarity, uniqueness, or overall quality of design or detail.
• Location as a site of an important archaeological resource.
• Association with significant cultural or social aspects or events in the history of the City of Pittsburgh, the State of Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic region, or the United States.
• Exemplification of a neighborhood development pattern or settlement significant to the cultural history or traditions of the City, whose components may lack individual distinction.
• Representation of a cultural, historical, architectural, archaeological, or related theme expressed through distinctive areas, properties, sites, structures, or objects that may or may not be contiguous.
• Unique location or distinctive physical appearance or presence representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or the City of Pittsburgh.

Any area, property, site, structure, or object that meets any one or more of the criteria listed above shall also have sufficient integrity of location, design, materials, and workmanship to make it worthy of preservation or restoration.

How to Apply for a Historic Nomination

A property's owner of record or any person presently residing in the City of Pittsburgh who has established residency in the City for at least one year may submit a historic nomination. Please note that a nomination of a religious structure may not be possible and historic district nominations are subject to additional requirements.

To start the historic nomination process:

• Complete and review your draft Historic Nomination form with Historic Preservation staff prior to submitting to OneStopPGH.
• Upon preliminary staff approval, complete a Historic Nomination application at OneStopPGH and pay the applicable fee. Link to City Planning Fee Schedule. Fees are non-refundable. Historic Nomination applications are under Planning Application > Historic Nomination Application.
• Once submitted to OneStopPGH, staff will review the nomination for correctness and completeness. Additional information may be required if staff determines the application is incomplete.
• A nomination is accepted once Historic Preservation staff signs the Historic Nomination Form.
• Staff will notify the property owner via mail of the nomination.
• A Development Activities Meeting is required 30 days before the Historic Review Commission (HRC) public meeting.
• At the public HRC meeting, the Commission will consider the nomination. HRC hears testimony from the nominator, City staff, the property owner, and general public. If considered favorably, the Commission provides a recommendation to City Council.
• In addition to Historic Review Commission, nominations are also considered by Planning Commission at a public meeting. If considered favorably, the Planning Commission provides a recommendation to City Council.
• City Council holds a public meeting on the proposed nomination.
• City Council makes the final decision regarding whether a property or district is worthy of historic designation. If approved, the property will be listed on the City register.

Once a nomination application is submitted to OneStopPGH and Historic Preservation staff determines it is a complete application, the process takes roughly nine months for a nomination to move from submission to a City Council decision. Once a historic nomination is approved, all external alterations to an individually listed property or those in a historic district are subject to review and approval by Historic Preservation Staff or the Historic Review Commission, depending on the scope of work. Violations are subject to citation by the Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections and are treated the same as any building code violation. See the Historic Preservation Code for more information.

Historic Nomination Form(PDF, 350KB)

List of City of Pittsburgh Locally Designated Sites and Districts 

Historic Nominations in Review

Historic Nominations Approved by City Council

Full List of City-Designated Properties(PDF, 213KB)

List of Draft National Register Nominations for Public Comment

The current properties below are among those considered by the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places at their next meeting.

Current National Register Nominations

• Allegheny Second Ward Industrial Historic District(PDF, 7MB)

Past National Register Nominations

• Mellon Park(PDF, 3MB)
• Fairfax Apartments(PDF, 8MB)
• International Harvester Company(PDF, 16MB)
• Centre Avenue YMCA(PDF, 2MB)
• Crawford Grill(PDF, 15MB)
• Highland Park(PDF, 14MB)
• Henry Koerner House(PDF, 9MB)
• Lawrenceville Historic District(PDF, 50MB)
• Frick Park(PDF, 3MB)
• Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant(PDF, 4MB)
• Roslyn Place(PDF, 7MB)
• Jones & Laughlin Steel Company Building(PDF, 2MB)
• Riverview Park(PDF, 6MB)
• Hazelwood Brewing Company(PDF, 13MB)
• (PDF, 13MB)Allegheny(PDF, 7MB)
• (PDF, 7MB)Belmar School(PDF, 6MB), 710 Heritage Street
• Clayton-Frick Art Museum Historic District(PDF, 9MB), 7200 Penn Avenue
• Gallagher-Kieffer House(PDF, 6MB), 234 N Dithridge Street
• Pauline Hanauer Rosenberg Residence(PDF, 3MB), 417 Lockhart
  (PDF, 13MB)