Eminent Domain facts

While investigating facts about Eminent Domain Definition and Eminent Domain Examples, I found out little known, but curios details like:

In 1914 Daniel Hess refused to sell the last bit of his property to the city of New York after the rest his property had been seized via eminent domain, and today it remains on the sidewalk with a tile that reads "Property of the Hess Estate Which Has Never Been Dedicated For Public Purposes"

how eminent domain works?

Angry New Hampshites tried to use eminent domain to build a hotel on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Souter's childhood home, purely out of spite for his support of eminent domain.

What eminent domain mean?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what's eminent domain abuse. Here are 22 of the best facts about Eminent Domain Law and Eminent Domain Meaning I managed to collect.

what's eminent domain?

1. After Netflix threatened to move House of Cards S3 production when Maryland removed millions of dollars of tax benefits for filming, the legislature responded by threatening to use eminent domain to seize the production team's assets, since they had already received millions in tax benefits

2. An area in Ohio called Helltown. It became abandoned in the 1970's when the US government drove citizens from their homes through eminent domain to form national parks. One poor soul scrawled, "This is how the Indians must have felt" on the wall of his former home.

3. In 1984, the then-Baltimore Colts were moved to Indianapolis in secret in the middle of the night, with 15 moving trucks taking different routes to avoid being seized by the State of Maryland under eminent domain.

4. A small triangle in NYC about 27x25x27 inches was not accounted for in an eminent domain seizure in 1914. The owner installed a small mosaic which said "PROPERTY OF THE HESS ESTATE WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN DEDICATED FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES." It is still there today.

5. In 1984, the Maryland legislator voted to use eminent domain in order to seize ownership of the NFL's Baltimore Colts. That night, Indiana sent 14 trucks to pack up everything in the Baltimore facility, and the trucks all took different routes out of Maryland in order to evade state police.

6. About Walpack, New Jersey, a town taken from residents through eminent domain to build a dam and create a 37-mile-long lake. The project was canceled due to mismanagement by the federal government. Today, only 8 people live in this large ghost town in the U.S.'s most densely populated state.

7. Harvard College is explicitly granted special rights and privileges in the Constitution of Massachusetts, including guaranteed freedom to manage its own affairs and possibly even exemption from eminent domain.

8. The Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis overnight, with zero advance notice, in a clandestine operation designed to evade the Maryland State Police, so that ownership of the team would not be seized by the city of Baltimore under eminent domain.

9. Central Park in NYC was seized using eminent domain in 1853 displacing 1,600 poor residents including Irish pig farmers and German gardeners

10. An underground fire has been burning under the Pennsylvania town of Centralia for over 50 years, resulting in a ghost town, eminent domain by the government, and having the towns zip code revoked by the USPS, yet 10 people still lived there in 2010.

Why eminent domain is good?

You can easily fact check why eminent domain is wrong by examining the linked well-known sources.

SCOTUS ruled that governments can enforce eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development.

New London, CT successfully used eminent domain to benefit the Pfizer Corp. The city went to the Supreme Court and prevailed. The land is now a vacant lot. - source

The Hess Triangle - A small mosaic marker in NYC installed as an act of defiance on land missed when the city used eminent domain to take property owned by David Hess - it is still there today. - source

Yankee Stadium was owned by Rice University from 1962 through 1971 until New York claimed eminent domain and required the university to sell the stadium back.

The land where the St Louis gateway arch was built was stolen from its rightful owners using the "eminent domain" pretext. - source

When can eminent domain be used?

An area in Ohio called Helltown. It became abandoned in the 1960's when the US government drove citizens from their homes through eminent domain to form national parks. One poor soul scrawled, "This is how the Indians must have felt" on the wall of his former home.

How eminent domain abuse harms the poor?

Former Colts owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis when the city of Baltimore threatened to seize the team, citing eminent domain.

A schizophrenic man died after police utilized a lethal amout of tear gas in order to remove him from his home, to exercise eminent domain in the building of a highway.

Donald Trump was involved in an eminent domain case where he tried to force an old lady out of her house to build a limousine parking lot.

Vera Coking. Throughout the 1990'S Donald Trump tried unsuccessfully to take her home via eminent domain, to use it as a limo parking lot for his casino in Atlantic City. She never gave up her home and beat Trump Enterprises in every case.