News Release 256

HISTORIC PRESERVATION COUNCIL TO CONSIDER
SALINE COUNTY NOMINATION FOR NATIONAL REGISTER MAY 16

Volume 36-252

Contact: Sue Holst

(For immediate release)

573-751-6510

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, MAY 9, 2008 -- The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places during its quarterly meeting May 16 in Branson. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bee Creek Conference Room, Second Floor, Branson Convention Center, 200 East Main St. 

Twenty-eight nominations are scheduled to be considered for listing in the National Register. Properties on the agenda include historic residences, commercial buildings, historic districts, and a Santa Fe Trail site. More than 1,200 historic resources are represented in the nominations.

The following property in Saline County is being considered:

Todd's Landing just outside Arrow Rock is believed to be the Saline County site where William Becknell assembled the first successful trading expeditions from U.S. territory to Santa Fe in the 1820s.  Becknell, a Virginian, is said to have been an early, if not the earliest, ferryman at the Arrow Rock crossing.  The nominated site includes a landmark bluff overlooking the Missouri River and swales leading from the landing at its base. There are no visible remains of the original Arrow Rock ferry or of the buildings associated with it, and all traces of the companion site on the Howard County side have been eaten away by the river. Because of its important role in the development of the trade with Santa Fe, then under control of the Mexican government, Todd's Landing is considered to have national significance.  

Other properties that are being considered follow:

In addition to nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, the council will receive status reports on programs provided by the State Historic Preservation Office and discuss business related to its own function and duties. Council will also discuss coordination and preparation of Missouri's five-year statewide preservation plan. 

The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is a 12-member group of historians, architects, archaeologists and citizens with an interest in historic preservation. The council is appointed by the governor and works with the Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the National Register program for Missouri. The council meets quarterly to review Missouri property nominations to the National Register, the nation's honor roll of historic properties. Approved nominations are forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C., for final approval.

For more information about the May 16 meeting or the council, call the State Historic Preservation Office at 573-751-7858 or the department toll free at 800-334-6946.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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