Federal funds may not be used to lessen its significance, like tear it down to build a highway, ballpark, etc.
Your state and local governments may offer further protections. In my town, a demolition permit must be sought, so one must appear before the landmarks commission if the structure is in one of three National Register Historic Districts.
In your case the state preservation officer (SHPO) may need to file a section 106 review to state the impact to historic resources if state (maybe) or federal funds are in play for road building, etc.
Casey

My street is on the register, and so each contributing house, including mine, is on it too. The register doesn't give enough protection. I don't remember the details. Search their website and see what you can come up with.

Here in Los Angeles there are 3 more layers of protection. Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZ) make it much more difficult to tear down or alter any listed house. Our neighborhood is an HPOZ. And then there's Historic-Cultural Monuments of the city of Los Angeles, which offers some additional protection. Our house is a monument. And then there's the Mills Act, which offers a 50% reduction in house taxes if you keep both the inside and the outside of the house historically accurate. Whew! Our house has all of these, which makes it just about impossible to tear down. Of course there's always a big earthquake...

Here is a link that might be useful: National Register

Thanks for the replies.
According to the website, a private owner can do whatever they want as long as there are no federal monies attached to the property.

I find the situation terribly sad. I live in an old river town, with a lot of history. Almost everyone who headed West after the NW territory was opened came through my county because of the river system and initial surveys here. But, the older homes were terribly undervalued, and just went through stage after stage of being altered, rented out, then rented out by absentee landlords, and then torn down or condemned. They could be had for a song, and nobody really gave historic preservation a second thought.

My husband bought the house in which we are living now and certainly saved it from becoming one more victim. It's one of the original farms in our township and has some local historical value. But, it came 'that' close to becoming a memory for awhile and then forgotten.

Then the people who do it, go to Europe on holiday..so they can see old buildings. LOL. Sometimes newer than the one they just tore down.

Unfortunately, National Register sites are torn down everyday. The title does not bring protection.