Evaluation of Fire Station 23-425, Mercury, Area 23, Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada
The U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) plans to modernize the Mercury town site at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) in Nye County, Nevada, to meet current and future National Weapons Science, Global and Homeland Security Programs, and Environmental Management mission requirements. These plans—including anticipated demolitions, consolidations, and rebuilding at Mercury—are considered an undertaking subject to review under Title 54 U.S.C. § 306108, commonly known as Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Title 54 U.S.C. § 300101, et seq., and its implementing regulations, 36 C.F.R. Part 800. Desert Research Institute (DRI) completed an architectural survey of Mercury. This effort resulted in the identification, recordation, and evaluation of the Mercury Historic District, including the identification of its contributing components. This district was recommended eligible for listing to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP or National Register) under Criteria A and C but was unevaluated under Criteria B and D at that time. The Mercury Historic District contains 153 individual landscapes, buildings, and structures. Of these resources, all except one are recommended as contributing elements of the historic district during its period of significance corresponding to nuclear testing from 1951 through 1992. During most of the Cold War, the land now called the NNSS was named the Nevada Test Site (NTS). This report concerns the proposed demolition of the 1966 Fire Station 23-425 in Mercury as a phase of the larger modernization program mentioned above. Further evaluation of this property indicates that it does not meet any of the Secretary of the Interior’s Significance Criteria for eligibility for the NRHP at either the national or local levels. However, it does remain an important contributing element of Mercury Historic District. This is part of a series of reports.