An important historic preservation planning tool, historic resources surveys (HRS) are integral components to the work of historic preservation commissions across the country. Recommended to be performed once every ten years, HRS reports provide commissions with the data needed to better understand what historic resources remain on the landscape within their communities and how best to preserve them. Historic resources surveyed include buildings, structures, objects, sites, and significant landscape features aged a minimum of 40 years of age as a way of documenting resources that may gain significance within the next ten years.

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Begun in 2018, the historic resources survey performed in Richmond Hill will identify resources city-wide and is funded in part by the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the Department of Natural Resources. 

Governing the survey were three cross-pollinating activities, archival research, field survey, and the recording of information. All survey entries are entered into the Georgia Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS) database to include updating entries for previously surveyed resources and entering new data regarding historic resources that had gained significance since the last survey was completed.

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Noteworthy sites include numerous resources from Henry Ford's tenure in Richmond Hill, dating to the 1930s and 1940s. As part of the survey report, recommendations will be provided to assist the preservation commission in future planning efforts.

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Prior work completed by Lominack Kolman Smith included a consultation for the development of a historic preservation ordinance and Historic Preservation Commission, both of which were established in 2018.

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The Historic Resource Survey phase report can be viewed online here.