Determining ownership of land...

[CleenSweep]

....where no address is present, nor houses nearby? Not sure where to start being new to this and all, but there's a great old cellar hole in the woods I want to MD...but not sure who owns the area/woods? How do you folks go about acquiring permission for a site like this?

 

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[hvacker]

In my experience asking permission is often greeted with a NO. When permission is asked a couple of things come to mind in the owners mind. 1 Is there something valuable I don't know about? 2 Will I be held liable if someone gets hurt?
With no obvious No Trespassing signs (not counting the ones that disappeared the night before) I would probably risk it. But that's just me.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

GIS. Does your city/town/villiage have a GIS portal on their tax accessor's page? That gives the registered property owner.

 

[CleenSweep]

GIS. Does your city/town/villiage have a GIS portal on their tax accessor's page? That gives the registered property owner.

I'm not sure what a GIS is, but I'm sure the town hall would have to have some kind of idea....These woods are right off an old road and there IS one house on the other side of that road....more like a tiny cottage, but on the side with this foundation site, there's nothing but woods all around....

 

[CleenSweep]

In my experience asking permission is often greeted with a NO. When permission is asked a couple of things come to mind in the owners mind. 1 Is there something valuable I don't know about? 2 Will I be held liable if someone gets hurt?
With no obvious No Trespassing signs (not counting the ones that disappeared the night before) I would probably risk it. But that's just me.

Definitely no signs posted...I checked. I agree on the taking the chance route in areas I'm even roughly familiar with, but this town is some ways away and for some reason I just know it has to be owned by someone....found a map done in 1879 and this building was already gone...it's a HUGE, interesting foundation with multiple areas and a worn, curving strip with ruts leading up to it...all overgrown.....
....and it's calling me like a moth to a flame....

 

[Mackaydon]

Also find out who owns the cottage across the street.
You want to know that person by name if he should inquire about your 'visiting'.
It should calm him down. You might even get an invite to MD on his property.
Don..........

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I'm not sure what a GIS is, but I'm sure the town hall would have to have some kind of idea....These woods are right off an old road and there IS one house on the other side of that road....more like a tiny cottage, but on the side with this foundation site, there's nothing but woods all around....

Geographic Information System. It is a database that municipalities use it to register and identify property owners.

Start here: Town of Hudson, MA - Geographic Information System (GIS)

 

[Keppy]

Your best bet is what i would do..... Just go hunt it.......... That should bring out the better than tho bunch.......... But that is what i would do.... No house no stay out signs no address sign..... in the woods .... Just hunt it you will be fine......

 

[Keppy]

In my experience asking permission is often greeted with a NO. When permission is asked a couple of things come to mind in the owners mind. 1 Is there something valuable I don't know about? 2 Will I be held liable if someone gets hurt?
With no obvious No Trespassing signs (not counting the ones that disappeared the night before) I would probably risk it. But that's just me.

..... ​AMEN......

 

[limes2hundert]

County plat maps should be available for purchase at your County Auditors office.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

hvacker and keppy, you guys crack me up! You guys should be lynched on site . You know full well that the forests are brimming with people waiting/looking to evaluate you and your hobby . (they lurk everywhere)

Cleansweep, how far from the road is it? I mean, did you walk up to it to get this detailed description you are giving here? Or were all those observations made from the street or sidewalk vantage point? What I'm getting at is I have to wonder , if somone were to post something like "I was walking through the woods one day, and saw a place I"d like to metal detect .... if only I could figure out who to ask.". Does anyone else catch the irony of that ?

 

[arnofarrell]

Do you live in a rural area? I know in the midwest most people dont care if you are on there land atleast where I live. Every year my friends and I go hunting for pheasants and we ask the owners each year just to make sure. Metal deteting is something of an oddity here and people dont seem to care as long as you are respectful. I personally ask.

 

[CleenSweep]

Cleansweep, how far from the road is it? I mean, did you walk up to it to get this detailed description you are giving here? Or were all those observations made from the street or sidewalk vantage point? What I'm getting at is I have to wonder , if somone were to post something like "I was walking through the woods one day, and saw a place I"d like to metal detect .... if only I could figure out who to ask.". Does anyone else catch the irony of that ?

Tom, I never said I was walking around on the property.....but I was And yes, I get the irony.....But walkingaround out here with a camera is far different (I'm going to suppose), than lugging in a shovel and a detector and digging up the ground.....To me, it becomes a difference of intellectual rights, vs personal property issues.....And yes, before you say it, I DO know that trespassing is trespassing regardless of intent....
By the way, here's a very small portion of this area I'm talking about.....the foundy is around 60-80 ft x 40ish...plus a few outlying rectangular and square structures....almost certainly a former barn at that size....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

..... than lugging in a shovel and a detector and digging up the ground.....

Cleensweep, the above quote from you conjurs up an image, doesn't it? Because yes, once you and I or John Q Public has THIS image of detecting, ..... then sure .... it is different than simply "taking pictures". And ask yourself: exactly what is the "image" that the above sentence is meant to portray? (be honest) ..... guys lugging around SHOVELS and DIGGING up the ground. And what is the connotation of all that, if we are perfectly honest? Holes, damage, defacement, destruction, etc... Right? Thus if you ask me, if you did NONE of that, then presto, you become just as innocuous as the photographer you already subconsciously knew was "alright" and "no one would care" (afterall, photography "Hurts" no one, etc...). So if you left no holes, didn't have a "shovel" and instead, only a small concealed leshe, and weren't "sticking out like a sore thumb", then .........

But in any case, forget all that. The correct answer is: No you can't. You must track down the owner. And for that matter, even your having simply been standing there, to have even taken the picture, was also a no-no for which you will receive 40 lashes

 

[dholland02]

I'm with keppy id just hunt it till someone says something. Then place stupid with them, tell them u thought it was owned by the township.

 

[hvacker]

hvacker and keppy, you guys crack me up! You guys should be lynched on site . You know full well that the forests are brimming with people waiting/looking to evaluate you and your hobby . (they lurk everywhere)

I'm sure you know the punishment for trespassing isn't hanging. It's being shot. Just grinning. There is risk in daring to follow your heart. I'm glad I don't live in CA from what others have said. Seems like a gang of control freaks. Also way too many people. New Mexico is the fifth largest in land but with 2 million people so some things that happen here might not fly in CA. Maybe you could adopt New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free Or Die"