Maryland Historical Trust

The Historic Preservation Easement Program
historic structure

Are you interested in providing the maximum protection to your historic property? If so, a gift easement may be of interest to you. Owners of properties listed on, or eligible for, the National Register of Historic Places, or located within a locally certified or Register-listed historic district, may convey a perpetual historic preservation easement as a gift to the Maryland Historical Trust. An easement does not seek to freeze a building in time but rather to manage the changes that may occur. Not only does an easement provide for the future of your property, it may also provide you with financial incentives and is an important part of estate planning. The Trust currently holds easements on over 600 properties including properties such as a 17th century meeting house, 18th, 19th, and 20th century houses, schools, mills, farms and archeological sites. The Trust also requires easements on properties receiving assistance from its grant and loan programs. For more information, call Elizabeth Schminke, Easement Administrator, at (410) 514-7632.

Related Resources

National Trust for Historic Preservation: Preservation Easements [opens in a new browser window]

List of MHT Easement Properties (current as of February 6, 2008) Adobe Acrobat document

Copies of the Easement documents are available through the Maryland Archives Land Records (link below) using the listed Liber and Folio number.

Maryland Archives Land Records [opens in a new browser window]
Information about land records, including copies of Maryland Historical Trust recorded Preservation Easements, is available from the Maryland State Archives, in cooperation with the Maryland Judiciary and the twenty-four elected Court Clerks of Maryland.
Please note: Users must first apply for a username and password to use this website.

Procedures for Reviewing Alterations to Easement Properties Adobe Acrobat document

MHT Easement Committee Rules of Procedure Adobe Acrobat document

Sample Maryland Historical Trust Deed of Easement Adobe Acrobat document

2008 Easement Committee Meeting Schedule Adobe Acrobat document

Last updated: April 4, 2008