Landmarks are the core work of the Commission. Our first charge when HPC was launched, other than to create and maintain a comprehensive survey of historic structures and sites, was to identify and nominate certain unique buildings and places for special recognition. Through Landmarking, we acknowledge and honor both the places themselves, and the people who have through the years maintained them and protected them from decay, neglect and demolition.

When you visit the McHenry County Administration Building on Ware Road, stop up to the second floor, next to the Planning and Development Offices. Along the corridor there, you will see engraved plates featuring all of our Landmarks from the many houses and buildings to a streetscape in Huntley, cemeteries and even a lone "Witness Tree" used over a century ago to mark a farm's boundary, long before satellite imaging and GPS were ever dreamed of.

We have landmarked a total of twenty-one buildings and sites so far (we have even lost one...), and are always on the lookout for more. We have several nominations pending, and each one gets special attention.

CRITERIA FOR CONSIDERATION OF NOMINATION 

A. It has character, interest, or value, which is part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristic(s) of a local community, the County of McHenry, State of Illinois, or the Nation;

B. Its location is a site of a significant local, county, state, or national event;

C. It is identified with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the development of the local community, County of McHenry, State of Illinois, or the Nation;

D. It embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style valuable for the study of a period, type, method of construction, or use of indigenous materials;

E. It is identified with the work of a master builder, designer, architect, or landscape architect whose individual work has influenced the development of the local area, County of McHenry, State of Illinois, or the Nation;

F. It embodies elements of design, detailing, materials, or craftsmanship that render it architecturally significant;

G. It embodies design elements that make it structurally or architecturally innovative;

H. It has a unique location or singular physical characteristics that make it an established or familiar visual feature;

I. It has character which is a particularly fine or unique example of a utilitarian structure, including, but not limited to farmhouses, gas stations, or other commercial structures, with a high level of integrity or architectural significance;

J. It establishes a sense of time and place unique to a community and/or the County of McHenry;

K. It is suitable for preservation or restoration;

L. It is included in the National Register of Historic Places and/or the Illinois Register of Historic of Historic Places;

M. It has yielded, or may be likely to yield information important to pre-history or other areas of archaeological significance;

N. It is an exceptional example of an historic or vernacular style or one of a few remaining in the County of McHenry

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