Since its creation in 1955, the Philadelphia Historical Commission has sought to identify, designate and preserve the cultural resources that embody the City's three-hundred year history and distinguish it from every other city. Toward that goal, the Historic Commission offers several services to the general public as well as to state, federal and other city agencies.
All services are free of charge.
Frequently Asked Questions 1. Please contact the Commission at the phone number listed below, and we will do our best to assist you. The Philadelphia Historical Commission designates buildings, sites, structures, objects and districts as historic at the National, state and local levels, and lists them on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. For this, it employs criteria and procedures adopted from the National Register of Historic Places, although no minimum age requirement exists. The Commission also nominates resources to the National Register.