Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Western Reserve Region.

The Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Western Reserve Region was a regional office of the state agency designated to regulate funding and organize and administer an historic preservation plan in Ohio. It was established in 1973 and located at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio. After state funding ceased in 1981, the Historical Society funded the office until 1990. Eric Johannesen served as the preservation officer. The Western Reserve Region includes 12 counties in Northeast Ohio.

The Ohio Historic Preservation Office (OHPO) was first organized through the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. In providing federally-funded grants-in-aid for state historic preservation efforts, the legislation required that each state designate a historic preservation agency to regulate funding and organize and administer a historic preservation plan. In Ohio, the program was centered at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus and administered through the Ohio Historic Preservation Office and several regional offices. The office at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Clveland was created in 1973 with Eric Johannesen as Preservation Officer and was comprised of twelve counties in northeast Ohio. State funding for the Western Reserve Office ceased in 1981; thereafter the operation was funded by the Western Reserve Historical Society until the death of Johannesen in 1990.

The Western Reserve Regional Office, located at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, conducted two important programs through the OHPO: the National Register of Historic Places nomination program and the Ohio Historic Inventory Program. The National Register program recognized and nominated important historic structures within the region to the National Register of Historic Places. The Ohio Historic Inventory was a state-wide, ongoing survey to record all buildings, sites, and structures of architectural and historic significance and is a necessary component of the Ohio Historic Preservation Plan.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Western Reserve Historical Society

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Eric Johannesen