Pride and protest

What do you think when you see a plaque like this somewhere?    

I don't know about you but I have always thought this plaque was an honor and bestowed a certain amount of prestige on the place the it was hung.  

Well what if you had a chance to live in one of these places, and what if that place was part of a whole neighborhood of others like it?  What if it turned out that not only your house, the very one you live in right now, the one you fell in love with and bought because it and others around it were from a time gone by, qualified for one of these plaques and all that it stands for and all that it entitles you to?  

It would put your house in the same company as the White House, the Statue of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial.  Wow.

But here in GroveAtopia, the reaction of some to this prospect is exactly the opposite of wow.  I'm not sure what that word is so I looked it up and here are some from which you may choose:  anger, irritate, upset, depress, disappoint, dismay, distress, pain, trouble, displease, offend, repel, repulse, turn off, disenchant, disgust.  Take your pick.

If you are like me you are saying to yourself, "Really?"  There are people who are angered, irritated, upset, depressed, disappointed, dismayed, distressed, pained, troubled, displeased, offended, repelled, repulsed, turned off, disenchanted and/or disgusted by the National Register of Historic Places?

In a word, yes.

I know, I was as flabbergasted as you.

It turns out that some people think that being on the National Register of Historic Places is nothing more than an example of government telling us what we can and can't do with one of our most sacred possessions - our property.

Never mind that we worry endlessly about what our neighbors have or may or may not do to their homes and how it might affect ours.  Thus far we have relied upon hopes and prayers and when they fail us we live with the fallout, although we may grumble.

So if your neighbor, who lives in the farmhouse built in 1905 decides to add a dome shaped second floor, strip off the porch and replace the beautiful curved bay windows, the ones you have admired through your own front window for years and years, there's nothing to be done.  It's your neighbor's right because it's your neighbor's property.

The National Register of Historic Places attempts to help people avoid doing that.  It offers incentives and through tax breaks, freezes and restoration loans to help people maintain the historic qualities of their homes. 

But it turns out some people view that as intrusion.  They would rather we trust in hope and prayer, and should things not turn out well, well that's just how it is.

So you see, some view the National Register as a source of pride, others see it as something to protest.   We don't know how it will all turn out. 

But here's what I do know.  I'd be honored to see my home listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It would inspire me to do all I could to live up to it.  

So I guess I land on the side of pride.  And you may protest that all you want.