Illinois Historic Preservation Division

The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with maintaining State-owned historic sites and maximizing their educational and recreational value to visitors or on-line users. In addition, it manages the process for applications within the state for additions to the National Register of Historic Places and other federal preservation schemes. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) was created by State law in July 1985. The agency's oldest bureau, the Illinois State Historical Library, was created in 1889, but the origins of the agency could be said to date back to the state's involvement in building and caring for the Lincoln Tomb in Springfield, Illinois, in 1865. During the 20th century, the state of Illinois acquired and restored a wide variety of historic properties throughout the state. The agency also administers the Cahokia World Heritage Site which includes the largest pre-columbian construction in the Americas north of Mexico, having also acquired the site in the early 20th century for state protection. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM), also in Springfield, Illinois, was dedicated in 2005. Unlike most modern presidential libraries, the Lincoln Library is state-owned.