Historic preservation in Huntsville didn’t look backward so much in 2025 as it looked through time. While the City continued to protect beloved landmarks and honor the people who shaped them, the year revealed a deeper truth about preservation today: history is increasingly uncovered, understood and shared through data.
Maps became memory keepers. Archival records became storytellers. Digital tools and public input became bridges, connecting Huntsville’s past to its present and pointing the way toward its future.
That intersection of data and preservation came into sharp focus during Historic Preservation Month in May, when the City of Huntsville’s Historic Preservation Office partnered with the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) department to show how research, technology and storytelling work hand in hand.
“Preservation is often thought of as something you can see, a building, a street, a landmark,” said City Historic Preservation Planner Katie Stamps. “But so much of the work happens behind the scenes, in records, maps and community stories that help us understand why places matter.”
Together, the departments highlighted how history can be both rigorously documented and widely accessible, rooted in facts, but brought to life through thoughtful interpretation.
Historic Preservation Month: Turning information into insight
Historic Preservation Month offered an invitation behind the scenes. Rather than spotlighting historic buildings alone, the City emphasized the process, the layers of information that guide preservation decisions long before a plaque is installed or a boundary is drawn.
Historic surveys, planning documents, oral histories, photographs and mapping data formed the foundation of this work. Each dataset added dimension, revealing how neighborhoods grew, how communities gathered and how Huntsville evolved one generation at a time.
“Data gives us context,” Stamps said. “It helps us move beyond a single building or moment in time and see how people lived, worshiped, worked and built community across generations.”
Preservation is not frozen in time. It is a living analysis of Huntsville’s past in motion.
Digitally walking through history
One of the most tangible examples of data-driven preservation in 2025 was the development of the Discover Downtown Huntsville: Digital Walking Tour . Designed to place history directly underfoot, the tour blended historical research, GIS mapping and archival imagery into a self-guided experience through the city’s core.
Block by block, the tour revealed Huntsville’s layered past – where commerce once thrived, where communities gathered and how the city’s physical landscape has shifted over time. By pairing familiar streets with digital context, the tour transformed everyday spaces into interpretive ones, where history unfolded naturally as people move through the city.
“Digital walking tours allow us to meet people where they are,” Stamps said. “You don’t have to step inside a museum to learn about Huntsville’s history. It’s already all around you.”
Rather than replacing the physical experience of place, the digital layer enriches it – inviting residents and visitors alike to slow down and look closer.
Expanding access with digital tools
Walking tours were just one part of a growing digital ecosystem in 2025. Continued investment in preservation technology helped ensure Huntsville’s history was not confined to archives or academic studies but available to the broader public.
Tools like the GIS Image Collection Viewer demonstrated how historical data can resurrect places that no longer exist physically, overlaying past landscapes onto today’s city grid. These platforms allow users to explore what once stood, and why it mattered, keeping memory alive even when structures are gone.
Video content also played a central role. Longer-form educational videos explored historic districts, neighborhood evolution and landmark sites. Meanwhile, short-form videos offered quick, approachable insights into preservation practices and seasonal care for historic homes.
“Preservation data isn’t just for planners or historians,” Stamps said. “It belongs to the community, and digital tools help make that information easier to access and understand.”
Data-informed planning and community voices
Data also guided some of Huntsville’s most important preservation conversations in 2025. Public input sessions for the Historic Huntsville Depot site underscored the need for historical research and community voices to work together. Archival documentation, usage studies and public feedback became equally important data points shaping the dialogue about the site’s future.
Progress on National Register nominations for Magnolia Terrace and Brothers Heights followed the same principle. Detailed architectural surveys, historical context and demographic research ensured that recognition was thoughtful, accurate and inclusive, reflecting the full breadth of Huntsville’s story.
Looking ahead to 2026
As Huntsville continues to grow, the Historic Preservation Office is looking beyond city limits, working to broaden Huntsville’s standing within the national historic preservation community. By elevating innovative, data-driven approaches and inclusive storytelling, the City is positioning itself as a model for how preservation can evolve alongside growth.
In 2026, the office will expand its focus on education, creating more opportunities for both preservation professionals and the public to learn, engage and participate. Workshops, resources and expanded digital content will empower residents, homeowners and preservationists with the tools to care for historic places and understand why they matter.
With America’s 250th birthday on the horizon, 2026 will also create space to highlight Huntsville’s Indigenous populations and early histories that predate the city itself, stories that are essential to telling a fuller, more honest American narrative.
Historic Preservation will also continue digitizing walking tours across Huntsville’s historic neighborhoods, ensuring history remains visible, walkable and interactive.
“Preservation isn’t about stopping change,” Stamps said. “It’s about understanding where we’ve been, so we can make more thoughtful decisions about where we’re going.”
