16 August 2022

Cultural Resources on the AT. part 7

 

Present Day Conditions

After years of neglect, the NPS was assigned the responsibility of protecting a permanent route for the Appalachian Trail.  In 1968, the National Trails System Act (NTSA Public Law 90-543) recognized the importance of the trail to the nation. Through an amendment of the Act in 1978, the National Park Service was provided with funds to secure a permanent corridor that would preserve the route of the AT.  Two separate purchases by the National Park Service that began in 1991 were needed to secure protection of the AT that included Lime Kiln site.  Appalachian Trail Parcel 249-67 (locally known as Sheffield Parcel ID:267/033.0-0003-0011.0) is found on Lime Kiln Road. It is a 40.44-acre NPS property bought on 3 January 1991 for US$240,000. Embedded within this parcel is a 1-acre property, (with a Parcel ID: 267/033.0-0003-0011.1) that is also found on Lime Kiln Road and is labeled by the NPS as AT 249-66.  The 1-acre lot was purchased for US$23,000 on 9 September 1998. Both properties provide a 41.5-acre buffer for the AT.  On the larger 249-67 (40.44 acres) the five brick kilns are found in the southeast corner of the property near the road frontage along Lime Kiln Road.  At the point of purchase in 1991 the condition of the kilns was noted as “(t)wo of these are still standing and partly intact. Two others have fallen down, and one is about half collapsed.”  (National Park Service Deed: APPA 14/1_249-67, 1991). 

Property lines are found at MassGIS.


https://www.arcgis.com/apps/OnePane/basicviewer/index.html?appid=47689963e7bb4007961676ad9fc56ae9

Finally, most tax maps are found online so you can find the trail and the neighbors.