Most people would think all the land in Maryland would be accounted for. Leave it up to the Boy Scouts to find something that seems to not exist. 19 acres in Harford County is not on the tax rolls. Surrounding the 19 acres is Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation, a 1,700-acre campground in operation for more than 60 years.

Obtaining land by a Land Patent is not done very often. In fact, the last time it was done in Maryland was in 2002. The Boy Scouts’ land is one the largest unclaimed tract in modern history. When original land patents were issued, surveying equipment was not as accurate as it is today. Over the years people have identified small parcels which fell through the cracks many years ago. In order to obtain the land, the Scouts must prove that no one else has ever owned it. They must search back through records and make sure that it was not granted to anyone since the Lord Baltimore in the 1630s.

Once the Scouts prove no one else has ever owned the land, what will they do with it? The same thing they’ve done for the past 60 years.  Since they own all the land around it they assumed it too was theirs and have been taking care of it as their own ever since.

Source: Baltimore Sun