National Register Survey
Card 4

Information in this database of more than 8,600 documents is from a single-sided survey card used for National Register historic site surveys in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Containing properties dating from as early as the 1830s, this large database includes homes, ranches, churches, schools, commercial and industrial buildings, courthouses, community halls, and parks from all over the state.

Data from this survey can be found in neighborhood survey search results by county and is distinguishable by the prefix "NRS4" in the site serial number.

What will I find?

Each survey contains identifying information: serial number, property name and address, county, city/rural designation, USGS quad, and UTM coordinates. Also included, when available, are architect/builder, owner, period, construction date, theme, style, description, and significance.

Other information includes designations for National Register, National Historic Landmark, Registered Texas Historic Landmark, Historic Areas Building Survey, Historic American Engineering Record, and other designations; original and present uses; physical condition (altered, unaltered); wall and roof construction; relationship to surroundings; acreage/boundary description; bibliographic data; informant; recorder and date; and photographic data.

  • Period, when given, is indicated by abbreviations (see glossary).
  • Theme and style, when given, are often used interchangeably and are usually indicated by abbreviations (see glossary).
  • Description is usually brief, concentrating on major features, including roof, exterior walls, windows, and decorative features.
  • Significance, when given, may indicate property's architectural, historical, or local value.

How can I use it?

This survey offers a wide range of historical and architectural information for the interested researcher or student. Information on various periods of Texas history can be located easily through period designations, while information on the history of given local areas is easily obtainable in county searches. The wide variety of material available here offers something for almost every area of interest, including religion, rural schools, fraternal organizations, various ethnic groups in the state (black, Czech, German, Hispanic, Swedish), and many other profitable topics.

Architectural information, though brief, is abundant, including examples and descriptions of almost every imaginable style, including Victorian, Gothic, Classical Revival, Greek Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, German Pioneer, and numerous vernacular styles.

What else should I know?

Theme designations may be helpful in locating examples of various architectural styles and in identifying sites related to other topics of particular interest.

Thoroughness of documentation for each site varies somewhat from one area of the state to another.