A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks.
The National Register of Historic Places in the United States is a register including buildings, sites, structures, districts, and objects. The Register automatically includes all National Historic Landmarks as well as all historic areas administered by the U.S. National Park Service. Since its introduction in 1966, more than 90,000 separate listings have been added to the register.
Moccasin Bend Archeological District is an archeological site in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that is part of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park unit. The National Park Service refers to it as one of the "most unique units found in the entire National Park Service." The area contains remnants of 12,000 years of continuous human habitation and serves as an area with unique cultural significance. For many years, there was little recognition of the historical significance of the area, and years of industrial development occurred on and around sites of archeological importance. After decades of campaigning by concerned citizens, private organizations, local officials, the Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park, and finally a state representative, the area was officially recognized as a National Archeological District in 2003. Moccasin Bend is currently undergoing a process of renovation and restoration that will allow the area to fulfill the National Park Service's mission of preserving "natural and cultural resources" for the "enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations."
The Mines of Spain State Recreation Area and E. B. Lyons Nature Center is a state park in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. It is near Dubuque, the eleventh-largest city in the state. The park features picnic areas, 15 miles (24 km) of walking/hiking trails, 4 miles (6.4 km) of ski trails, and the Betty Hauptli Bird and Butterfly Garden. It also includes archaeological sites of national importance as an early lead mining and smelting venture led by French explorer Julien Dubuque, as well as Dubuque's gravesite. These sites were collectively designated a National Historic Landmark District as Julien Dubuque's Mines.
The Glenwood Culture was a population of Indigenous peoples of North America prior to historical times. The culture is recognized as an eastern extension of the Nebraska Phase of the Woodland period, and was not a Mississippian culture.
The Bonaparte Pottery Archeological District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Bonaparte, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. At the time of its nomination it contained four resources, which included one contributing building, one contributing site, and two non-contributing buildings. The contributing resources include the remains of two kilns from Bonaparte Pottery, which operated from 1866 to 1895. It also includes the factory building (1876) that replaced a building that was destroyed in a fire in November 1875. The non-contributing resources include two buildings that are associated with the lumberyard that took over the site after the pottery closed. They were built after the period of historical significance.
Big Sioux Prehistoric Prairie Procurement System Archaeological District is a discontiguous historic district of 30 sites located along 15 miles (24 km) of river terraces and blufftops in Lyon County, Iowa. The sites are both large and small in size and they "contain a representative sample of the best preserved elements of a hunting and gathering system" of the native peoples who inhabited the northwest Iowa plains from 10,000 to 200 years ago. They include late base camps, deeply-buried early Archaic camps, and procurement sites from all time periods in the Pre-Columbian era. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The McGregor Commercial Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in McGregor, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 60 resources, including 51 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, and seven noncontributing buildings. Unlike most river towns in Iowa the central business district does not follow along the Mississippi River, but moves away from it. It is linear in shape, following Main Street, which runs from the southwest to the northeast in a narrow valley between two 400-foot (120 m) bluffs. The narrow valley ends at the river.
The American School of Wild Life Protection Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located on the north side of McGregor, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 30 resources, including 17 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing structure, nine noncontributing buildings, two noncontributing sites. The American School of Wild Life Protection was established in 1919 in a resort area known as McGregor Heights. The purpose of the school was to promote resource conservation values among the public. It grew out legislation in 1918 that established state parks in Iowa. The school also promoted the idea of establishing a national park in the Upper Mississippi River Valley, and after that did not come about, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The school continued in existence until 1941.
The Front Street Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Guttenberg, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and in 2004 its boundaries increased to include buildings that did not front onto River Park Drive. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of 75 resources, including 57 contributing buildings, one contributing site, and 17 noncontributing buildings. The boundary increase added 19 resources, including 15 contributing buildings, one contributing site, and 3 noncontributing buildings. The 4½ block segment of South River Park Drive, originally called Front Street, that makes up the district is the commercial center of Guttenberg. The buildings line the west side of the street facing a park, a contributing site, and the Mississippi River across the street. The National Fish Hatchery and Aquarium complex (1939-1940), whose buildings contribute to the historic nature of the district, is also located on the east side of the street.
The West Oak Forest Earthlodge Site is a historic site located near Glenwood, Iowa, United States. It was discovered in 2009 by local archeologist Dennis Miller who found a depression of about 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter, and a maximum depth of 24 inches (61 cm) below the surrounding area. It was authenticated by the Office of the State Archeologist the following year. This is one of 29 known earthlodges that exist from the Nebraska Phase of the Woodland period. The earthlodges were dwellings that were composed of four central support posts, surrounded by shorter outer wall posts, with wattle and daub walls and roof. The depression in the earth was caused by the natural decay and caving-in of the earthlodge itself. In addition to the depression there have been 231 artifacts found at the site that dates from sometime between 1250 and 1400 C.E. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. There is NO earthlodge on this site to be seen.
Kimball Village is an archaeological site located in the vicinity of Westfield, Iowa, United States. It is one of six known Big Sioux phase villages from the Middle Missouri tradition that existed between 1100-1250 C.E. The site, located on a terrace overlooking the Big Sioux River, has well-preserved features, including earth lodge and storage pits, and evidence of fortifaction. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, and as a National Historic Landmark in 2016.
The Four Mounds site is a historic site located in Dubuque, Iowa, United States. It is made up of a row of four conical burial mounds on a blufftop that overlooks the Mississippi River. They are prehistoric in their origin. The site was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. It was included as a contributing property in the Four Mounds Estate Historic District in 2002.
The Benson Archeological Site, designated 13WD50 in the state archaeological inventory, is a historic site located near Smithland, Iowa, United States. Pottery fragments found at the site include Black Sand and Crawford ware from the early Woodland period and Valley ware from the Middle Woodland period. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Notbohm Mill Archaeological District, designated 13LN296 in the state archaeological inventory, is a nationally recognized historic district located west of Alburnett, Iowa, United States. It includes the remnants of the mill's foundation, the mill race, and the now-dry mill pond along the east branch of Otter Creek. This was both a grist mill and a sawmill operation. The mill began operating in the late 1860s. Frederick Notbohm began building the mill facility, which is the subject of this district, in 1875 near the now-defunct town of Lafayette. It continued to operate into the late 1930s and the mill itself continued to stand into the 1970s when it collapsed. The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
