“Now that the Slums Are Fashionable”: Origins of Section 104 of the National Historic Preservation Act

Bureau Historian for the Park History Program of the National Park Service John H. Sprinkle Jr. describes the origins of Section 104 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which would establish a loan guarantee program for historic properties but has not been enacted. Sprinkle details early efforts at creating an adequate loan program for historic resources, the concerns of National Register of Historic Places nomination criteria, and the 1980 amendments to the NHPA that created Section 104.