The National Park Service confirmed the city of Higginsville as Missouri’s Certified Local Government (CLG).

A letter issued by the National Park Service welcomes the city as a local partner in the Federal Preservation Program. The Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which runs the CLG program in Missouri, also welcomes the city to the program. Higginsville is Missouri’s 65th local government to be certified by the National Park Service as meeting the program requirements outlined in the National Historic Preservation Act. CLGs receive special training and preferential access to grants from the Historic Preservation Fund.

Certification was an expressed goal of the city’s historic preservation plan passed in December 2023. To that end, the city passed a historic preservation ordinance and created a historic preservation commission. The commission is filled with six appointed members serving staggered terms. Other goals of the preservation plan included conducting architectural surveys to identify properties eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, researching incentives to encourage the preservation of historic buildings and developing a “Notable Historic Building” program.

Nearby CLGs include Lexington, Warrensburg and Saline County.