Preserving America's Rural Heritage
The Farm Bill
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is working to bring new federal resources to help conserve rural heritage across the country. Learn More
Rural Pilot Programs
With support from the W.K. Kellog Foundation, we are working with partner organizations to demonstrate preservation-based rural development strategies in regions of Arkansas and Kentucky. Learn More
Barn Publication
Many farmers are using older barns and farm buildings for sustainable agriculture. Find out why in a new publication. Learn More
Rural America, which includes some 55 million people and 80 percent of the nation’s landscape, contains a diverse array of historic resources. Rural historic places range from farmsteads and ranches to Main Streets, country stores, schools, churches, mill villages, bridges, scenic byways, fieldstone walls, archeological sites and much more.
Our Position
In partnership with local, state and national organizations, the National Trust helps rural communities protect historic places and implement sustainable, heritage-based development strategies. Conserving our rural heritage helps build more sustainable local economies and increases quality of life.
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Increasingly, our rural heritage is threatened. Major economic, cultural and demographic shifts are bringing changes to rural communities, not all of them welcome. In some rural regions, shrinking agricultural, forestry, mining and manufacturing employment is leading to population loss, neglect and abandonment of historic structures and sites. In high growth areas near cities and resorts, new development is literally consuming the historic rural landscape. The National Trust calls attention to threatened historic sites through its annual list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. More than 20 rural endangered places have been included on this list since 1988.
Rural Heritage on on the PreservationNation Blog 
Historic Homes of the Wild West
Catherine Montogomery, architect with the Oklahoma Historical Society, has put together a glimpse into life on the prairie. The first stop of the day is in Hominy, Oklahoma home of the Drummond home.
Built in 1905 it is one of the few Victorian homes built on the prairie. Built by Frederick Drummond in 1905 this is one [...]
Endangered Site Closer to Being Saved
Preservationists, National Park supporters, local residents, and members of the Japanese American community scored a major victory yesterday in their efforts to halt a 13,000-head concentrated animal feeding operation (or factory farm) just over one mile from the Minidoka Internment National Monument in Idaho. The Jerome County Commissioners voted 2-1 to deny the application for [...]
