I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 793
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasi-
bility of designating the Abel and Mary Nicholson House located in
Elsinboro Township, Salem County, New Jersey, as a unit of the Na-
tional Park System, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 28, 2001
Mr. LOBIONDO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suit-
ability and feasibility of designating the Abel and Mary
Nicholson House located in Elsinboro Township, Salem
County, New Jersey, as a unit of the National Park
System, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abel and Mary Nichol-
son House National Historic Site Study Act’’.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE STUDY REGARDING ABEL
AND MARY NICHOLSON HOUSE, ELSINBORO
TOWNSHIP, SALEM COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Abel and Mary Nicholson House, lo-
cated in Elsinboro Township, Salem County, New
Jersey, was built in 1722.
(2) The original section of the House is the
only pristine, surviving portion of a Delaware Valley
brick patterned-end house featuring a diaper or dia-
mond pattern in glazed bricks in the gable wall of
the building, and less elaborate decorations of check-
ered string courses on the other 3 walls.
(3) The original section of the House—
(A) contains early paint, original hinges,
locks, shelving, floorboards, roof framing, and
chimneypieces;
(B) has received only routine maintenance
and no major remodeling; and
(C) is without the intrusion of either elec-
tricity or a central heating system.
(4) The 1859 addition to the House enhances
the significance of the property with a similar level
of architectural integrity.
(5) The House has well-documented associa-
tions with the earliest Quaker settlement in North
America.
(6) The House and surrounding property may
be available for acquisition by the United States
from a willing donor.
(7) The House is one of the most significant
‘‘first period’’ houses surviving in the Delaware Val-
ley and represents an architectural Rosetta stone re-
garding the domestic life of the first two generations
of settlers in the Delaware Valley.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) HOUSE.—The term ‘‘House’’ means the
Abel and Mary Nicholson House located in Elsinboro
Township, Salem County, New Jersey.
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di-
rector of the National Park Service.
(c) STUDY.—The Secretary shall, in consultation
with the State of New Jersey—
(1) carry out a study regarding the suitability
and feasibility of designating the House as a unit of
the National Park System; and
(2) consider management alternatives for the
House to create an administrative association with
the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route.
(d) STUDY PROCESS
AND COMPLETION.—Section
8(c) of Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–5(c)) shall
apply to the conduct and completion of the study required
by this section.
(e) SUBMISSION
OF STUDY RESULTS.—The Sec-
retary shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate a report describing
the results of the study.
(f) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec-
essary to carry out this section.
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