Connecticut Historical Commission

The Connecticut Historical Commission was established in 1955 as a state agency, and was mandated when the National Historic Preservation Act required every state to appoint a State Historic Preservation Officer and establish a State Historic Preservation Office. In 2003 Connecticut established the Division on Culture and Tourism which combined the state's historical commission, the Commission on the Arts, the Film Office and the Tourism Office. The division administers the State Register of Historic Places as well as federally funded National Register-based programs designed to identify, register, and protect the buildings, sites, structures, districts, and objects that comprise and define Connecticut 's cultural heritage. The CHC also possesses regulatory authority for all archaeological studies undertaken on state lands or within state-administered waters.