The Hernando Heritage Museum moved closer to placement on the National Register of Historic Places when a state board on Thursday recommended it for that distinction. The house, also called the Stringer House, would become the first building or historic district in Hernando County on the register. It has the historic and architectural merits for that, said Gary Goodwin, a historic preservation planner with the state Bureau of Historic Preservation. "That's an impressive piece of real estate there," Goodwin said. "If you had seen the Stringer House, you would have to say it was something that should be listed on the Historic Register, without a doubt." The museum was one of six Florida properties the nine-member Florida National Register Review Board approved at its meeting in Tallahassee on Thursday. The board will meet again today. Goodwin will then write a formal application to the National Park Service. He said the service has two months to return a finding. Goodwin said that more than 90 percent of the properties the state recommends are ultimately placed on the register. Virginia Jackson, the association director, was not available for comment Thursday afternoon. The museum, east of downtown Brooksville at W Jefferson Street and May Avenue, was built in 1856. But it was brought to its present shape mostly by Sheldon Stringer, a Brooksville doctor who lived there in the late 1800s. The museum association has occupied it since 1981. Approval by the state opens the way for a larger goal of the Hernando Historical Museum Association: getting a historic district in Brooksville recognized on the register. The success of the museum's application was largely due to Leslie Draper, a Brooksville resident who recently received a bachelor's degree in historic preservation from the University of Florida. Draper is gathering information to make a historic-district application for Olive and Irene streets, Howell Avenue and S Brooksville Avenue, something the museum association has been trying to do for years. "We're looking at potentially a historic district coming out of Brooksville, so you have a lot to look forward to in that area," Goodwin said.