In July, 1976 a plaque bearing the following inscription was placed near the
entrance to Tesla's Wardenclyffe laboratory by the people of Yugoslavia:
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IN THIS BUILDING DESIGNED BY STANFORD WHITE, ARCHITECT, NIKOLA TESLA, BORN SMILJAN, YUGOSLAVIA 1856, DIED NEW YORK, USA 1943, CONSTRUCTED IN 1901-1905 WARDENCLYFFE, HUGE RADIO STATION WITH ANTENNA TOWER 187 FT. HIGH (DESTROYED 1917), WHICH WAS TO SERVE AS HIS FIRST WORLD COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. IN MEMORY OF 120TH ANNIVERSARY OF TESLA'S BIRTH AND 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF USA INDEPENDENCE - July 10, 1976 |
We would like to see Wardenclyffe placed on both the New York State and National Historic Registers. The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation's cultural resources worthy of preservation. Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the Register is part of a federal program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources. Placing Wardenclyffe on the National Register of Historic Places will provide the world with a tangible reminder of Dr. Tesla's work. Wardenclyffe's importance lies not so much in the technology which it represents or in the engineering clues buried there—it is in the fact that Wardenclyffe is the last of Dr. Tesla's work places to remain standing anywhere in the world. The saga of the building's history, from its design by Stanford White, to its contruction to house a prototype world communications facility to its later adaptation for other commercial uses, is a story yet to be fully told.
Efforts to have the property placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places were begun in September 1994 by the Tesla Wardenclyffe Project through contact with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Our application has subsequently received approval after a finding that the site meets with the seven New York State criteria for listing. Efforts for National Historic Designation will be greatly facilitated if the Tesla Wardenclyffe Project / Friends of Science East coalition is successful in acquiring the property from its current owners.
Visit the National Register of Historic Places on the web to learn more about historic designation.
Aerial photograph Wardenclyffe.