National Register of Historic Places question

Hosensack

Hero Member
Apr 20, 2007
752
107
Mertztown, Pa
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac, Safari,X-Terra 705, Tesoro Tejon, Whites DFX, Garrett AT Pro, GTI 2500, 250, Fisher Gold Bug DP,F75 Limited
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Is any property on this register off limits or is it a site by site basis? In short is it worth asking permission? I found an old foundation(mostly in tact) . I did a search to find the property owner and found out it was owned by a local private school. A very prominent historic figure is rumored to have stayed there, however when visiting the schools site it was noted that it is on the national historic reg. I was going to ask the school for permission, but if these are automatically, by law, off limits I prefer to not waste my time.
 

Upvote 0

Mark S.

Sr. Member
Jan 25, 2005
331
20
It is completely up to the property owner. They have full say so over it. The Historic register listings is just that. It is simply recognizing it. The owner can do whatever they want with the property. They could even demolish a structure if they want to. Of course there would no longer be any "historic register" if they did so. The federal government has no control over the property.

Now there are many in the historic and archaeological communities that will probably try to tell you different but they are either uninformed or intentionally misleading.

Check out this link. http://www.nps.gov/nr/owners.htm
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
mark s. is correct. If you get one of those handy-dandy plaques set on a marker on the street outside your place (because it used to be a stage stop, or a historic church, or a battle site, etc....) it is still .... YOUR PLACE. One time I stayed at a historic bed-&-breakfast Inn, that had one of those historical marker plaques mounted in a stone foundation in the front yard. The inn-keeper gave me permission to hunt the front lawn, and I detected all around the plaque (found some coins back to the 1800s). Point is, I was detecting right around the plaque, no problem.
 

DigginThePast

Gold Member
Dec 31, 2008
10,706
86
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yup, Mark S got it.

Funny story. In most cases to get your home on the National Register you need to start at your State level for nomination. I called the gentleman in Connecticut that handled all the nominations (at that time) to inquire about nominating my own home. He asked a bunch of questions which I answered and he told me that the property would easily qualify if what I told him was accurate. He then told me that he would provide me with a phone number for a woman that would do the research and that the cost usually runs around $5,000.00 (not a typo). I then told him that I had a State Historic Survey of my property in hand as well as numerous books that listed the property and it's owners. He had the nerve to suggest that I provide that information to the researcher to make her job easier! That was as far as I went with that idea as there really is no protection for the property in the event of a municipal project, which was my main concern.
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,844
59,629
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
DigginThePast said:
Yup, Mark S got it.

Funny story. In most cases to get your home on the National Register you need to start at your State level for nomination. I called the gentleman in Connecticut that handled all the nominations (at that time) to inquire about nominating my own home. He asked a bunch of questions which I answered and he told me that the property would easily qualify if what I told him was accurate. He then told me that he would provide me with a phone number for a woman that would do the research and that the cost usually runs around $5,000.00 (not a typo). I then told him that I had a State Historic Survey of my property in hand as well as numerous books that listed the property and it's owners. He had the nerve to suggest that I provide that information to the researcher to make her job easier! That was as far as I went with that idea as there really is no protection for the property in the event of a municipal project, which was my main concern.

HaHaHa Theives !

Wanna diagnose your own Health Problems
Before You Pay that Doctors office
Visit, to Save him Some Trouble ? :tongue3:
 

OP
OP
H

Hosensack

Hero Member
Apr 20, 2007
752
107
Mertztown, Pa
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac, Safari,X-Terra 705, Tesoro Tejon, Whites DFX, Garrett AT Pro, GTI 2500, 250, Fisher Gold Bug DP,F75 Limited
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Thanks everyone. I'll be putting this on my ask list for, the thaw of 2010.
 

Goes4ever

Silver Member
Jan 30, 2008
4,948
2,324
NorthWest Ohio
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac, Equinox 600, and Tesorso compadre
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have hunted several spots that were on the register, just got to find the owner and ask permission!
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Top