Kent County, DE Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Designation in Kent County runs through a four-tier significance system set out in Section 205-381.C. Category I covers landmarks and historic districts already listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Category II covers those eligible for the National Register under its own criteria but not yet listed; Category III covers properties that do not qualify for the National Register at all but still carry significant historical characteristics recognized locally; and Category IV covers nonhistoric sites inside a historic district, or individual properties the Commission finds are not worthy of preservation.

The seven-member Historic Preservation Commission, created under Section 205-380, can nominate a landmark or historic district on its own initiative or act on a request from any person, group, or association, then forwards a recommendation to the Levy Court, which must hold a public hearing before the Levy Court President signs the designation. A whole group of properties can be designated a historic district, not just a single landmark, if the properties meet one or more of the individual landmark criteria and together form a distinct section of the County, per Section 205-381.B.

Once designated, boundaries are filed in writing with the Department of Planning Services, Division of Planning, and properties are coded HG for an individual landmark or HG-D for a contributing resource within a historic district in the County's Land Use Management Information System, with the State Bureau of Archaeology and Historic Preservation notified of every designation and denial under Section 205-382.F. Any exterior alteration, demolition, new construction, or excavation affecting a designated landmark or a resource inside a historic district then requires a certificate of appropriateness under Section 205-383 before work can begin.