Higginsville becomes Missouri’s newest Certified Local Government

The National Park Service confirmed the city of Higginsville as Missouri’s Certified Local Government (CLG). A letter issued by the National Park Service welcomes the city as a local partner in the Federal Preservation Program. The Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which runs the CLG program in Missouri, also welcomes the city to the program. Higginsville is Missouri’s 65th local government to be certified by the National Park Service as meeting the program requirements outlined in the National Historic Preservation Act. CLGs receive special training and preferential access to grants from the Historic Preservation Fund.

Certification was an expressed goal of the city’s historic preservation plan passed in December 2023. To that end, the city passed a historic preservation ordinance and created a historic preservation commission. The commission is filled with six appointed members serving staggered terms. Other goals of the preservation plan included conducting architectural surveys to identify properties eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, researching incentives to encourage the preservation of historic buildings and developing a “Notable Historic Building” program.

The Certified Local Government program was created in 1980 through an amendment to the National Historic Preservation Act (54 USC 3025). It creates partnerships between local, state and federal governments to encourage historic preservation in communities. There are approximately 2,100 CLGs across the country. Nearby CLGs include Lexington, Warrensburg and Saline County.

For more information on state parks and historic , visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Douglass School, the old African-American school in Higginsville, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places last year and awarded a $210,000 grant from the National Park Service last month.