Rife with heritage sites, homes, museums, a carousel and a 150-year old mill, not to mention antique stores and historic downtown, Albany, Oregon is indeed a model heritage community, attracting local and out-of-state visitors to its charming main street, pastoral surroundings and nearby historic covered bridge loop.

Albany was the first city in Oregon to be recognized by the Oregon Heritage Commission as an “Oregon Heritage All-Star Community” in October, 2012.Oregon Heritage Commission approved the new designation based on criteria hammered out by its board and staff last summer.

According to OHC Coordinator Kyle Jansson, the new program was “homegrown” and not based on national models. “This designation is a pat on the back for the communities that are doing great things in this area, and also incentive for other communities to improve local heritage efforts.”

He noted that the designation, which has now been extended to two other cities, Roseburg and Cottage Grove, “is something communities can use on grant applications, in promotional efforts, and tourism marketing.”

The OHC also sees the designation as a way of bringing local heritage organizations together to collaborate with each other. “It raises awareness within communities about heritage resources,” said Jansson. Communities seeking the Heritage All-Star designation must satisfy 15 of the 20 criteria.

Those criteria include having a heritage preservation program in place, having a process for surveying and documenting historic properties and applying to the National Register of Historic Places, nonprofit partners, history museum, cultural heritage coalition, school programs, heritage website, public archive (including photo archive), heritage tourism partnerships, historic cemetery designation, oral histories, and heritage events.

In addition to Albany, Roseburg and Cottage Grove, several more cities and towns have applied for the designation. OHC is requesting applications for 2013 designation by April 11, 2013.