State Historic Preservation Office

Once Again, We're Number One!

Horton House (1859) in the historic Museum Hill District of St. Joseph... before  Horton House (1859) ... after!

Looking for the impact of historic rehab tax credits on Missouri's neighborhoods?

Try standing on Museum Hill in St. Joseph!

If that's inconvenient, check out the photo on the left -- of the Sheehan-Horton House, built in 1859, and showing every year of its age when it was purchased for $6,000 in 2002. The photo on the right shows its condition nine months later. Thanks to the dedication of its new owner, a grant from the city of St. Joseph (a certified local government) and Missouri's historic rehab tax credits, the six-room home built by a carpenter for his family sparkles just as much as the grand mansion built across the street in 1879.

There are similar "can-do" communities where developers have completed historic rehab tax credit projects across the state of Missouri -- from Arcadia, Boonville and Butler through Warrensburg, Washington, West Plains and Wildwood!

According to the FY 2007 report by the Department of the Interior's National Park Service, which oversees both the National Register and the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program, Missouri once again ranks

Our ranking isn't happenstance. According to the NPS, Missouri

In the FY2004 report, the NPS stated that success of the historic rehab tax credit program created by Missouri's General Assembly in 1997, "is reflected in the fact that rehabilitation using the federal tax credits doubled" after the introduction of the state tax credits.

The National Park Service report points out not only that Missouri's ranking in these federal figures demonstrates the impact of the existence of the state tax credit on the use of the federal tax credits, but also that it is this winning combination that has enticed developers from other states to join local developers in hiring workers to rehab historic buildings in communities across Missouri!

Thanks to the two programs, underutilized buildings have found new life and Missouri's citizens new jobs in Arcadia, Boonville, Butler, California, Carthage, Chesterfield, Chillicothe, Clarksville, Columbia, Danville, Excelsior, Farmington, Florissant, Fulton, Hannibal, Hartsburg, Hermann, Independence, Jefferson City, Joplin, Kansas City, King City, Kirkwood, Lexington, Manchester, Maplewood, Neosho, Nevada, New Haven, New Melle, North Kansas City, Osceola, Pilot Grove, Rocheport, St. Charles, St. Joseph, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Sedalia, Springfield, Trenton, University City, Wellston, West Plains and Wildwood!

Another study recently completed by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University, confirms that historic preservation isn't just preserving Missouri's aesthetic and cultural heritage – it's increasing economic activity by over a billion dollars a year!

According to the Rutgers study, the state's average investment of $25 million per year in historic preservation tax credits helps stimulate

The same study calculated the indirect impacts of those expenditures on Missouri's economy, including:

Want to learn more?