HIGH RISK OF DESTRUCTION BY DEVELOPMENT -- Native American and Revolutionary
War sites, and environmental resources on The LaGrange (Barczewski) farm in
Glasgow, DE


Stephen J. Nichols, a developer in Glasgow, DE, has signed a contract to
purchase by November 10, 2005, with the intent to immediately develop, the
entire Barczewski farm (also known as the La Grange or Dr. Samuel Henry
Black farm).  Mr. Nichols wants to place 232 houses and a 5 acre commercial
shopping center on the property.  He also intends to allow the Friendship
Baptist Church to purchase acreage to create a 300 vehicle parking lot and
the Christina School District to buy more than 50 acres of the farm,
including the historic manor house and granary, so that a public elementary
school can be built.

This property is crisscrossed by state and Federally recognized wetlands and
over 1 mile of drainage, is in the Christiana watershed, contains part of
the Glasgow recharge aquifer, and is bounded by over 3/4 mile of the Muddy
Run Creek. The 136 acres of woods on the farm are in a US Department of
Agriculture's local National Resources Conservation Service long-term tree
management plan.

The Barczewski farm's 236 acres contain two documented Native American
Indian sites, earthen works from the British and Hessian occupation of
Aikentown (Glasgow), a remnant of the Benjamin Latrobe feeder canal from
1804, and several structures on the National Register of Historic Places
(Dr. Samuel Henry Black). Dorcas Armitage Middleton Black was the wife of
Samuel H. Black. General Lafayette named the farm "La Grange" while a
visitor there in October 1824.  The Federal US Censuses of 1810 and 1820 for
DE/NCCo/Pencader Hundred, show that there were three FREE African-Americans
(unnamed - husband, wife, and daughter) who were part of Dr. Samuel H.
Black's household.

The farm is located near the northwest corner of Routes U.S. 40 and Del. 896
in Glasgow (New Castle County, Pencader Hundred), and is comprised of a
single tract of 236 acres.  Approximately 100 acres are pastures, and
approximately 136 acres are wooded.  The Muddy Run creek and some of its
tributaries run through and forms 3/4 of a mile of the northern boundary
of the property.

This property contains the historic home and farm of Glasgow's early
physician, University of DE trustee, and state politician, Dr. Samuel Henry
Black.  The land, however, had been farmed for over 100 years before Dr.
Black acquired it.  The property has a carefully restored historic home and
preserved granary, each dating to 1815, and more recent barns and
outbuildings dating to the property's days in the 1940s through 1960s as the
West End Dairy farm.  Other family names associated over time with this farm
include Middleton, Frazier, Leasure, Congo, Cooch, and Veach.

Dr. Samuel H. Black built the property's granary.  The building incorporates
consolidated storage and processing functions and wheeled vehicle access.
This building is the earliest documented example of a drive-through granary
of the type that was to become popular throughout the Northeastern U.S. in
the mid-19th century.

In July 1974, the large manor Federal period home and the granary were
incorporated into the National Park Service's National Register of Historic
Places (NRHP #74000601).  Areas of NRHP significance of this property
include Health/Medicine, Architecture, Social History, and Agriculture.

In 1985, the La Grange granary was incorporated into the highly selective
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) / Historic American Engineering
Record (HAER) conducted by the US Department of the Interior and maintained
by the US Library of Congress (Survey # HABS DE-216).

In 1989, La Grange was designated statewide as a Delaware Farm of
Distinction.

There are two archeologist documented Native American sites on the La Grange
farm (the Butterworth and the Barczewski sites).  These sites date from
6,500 BC to 1,000 AD. Over 1,800 authentic Paleo-Indian, Early Archaic, and
Woodland periods' arrow points, knife blades, and other stone implements
have been found all over the farm's land.

In the farm's woods there are intact remains of British and Hessian earthen
trenches from the September 3, 1777, Revolutionary War battle of Cooch's
bridge.  The trenches run parallel to the remnants of a historic and
ancient, but now abandoned road, of which the last remaining vestiges exist
on the LaGrange Farm.  The earthworks are also parallel Rt. 40 West from
Glasgow, DE, to Elkton, MD, and face Iron Hill.

There is also documented evidence on the farm of Benjamin Latrobe's venture
to build a feeder canal in 1804 (New Castle County Historical Marker NC-59).
The feeder canal remnant is intact.  The canal was to be built from the Elk
Creek to the Christiana River, with the ultimate goal of the canal
connecting the Delaware and Chesapeake waterways.  The project failed,
however, because the state of Delaware ran out of money before the canal was
completed.  A remnant of the feeder canal runs from Rt. 40 West through the
La Grange farm.

On May 30, 1973, Anne Barczewski vowed that the 236 acres of her farm "will
never fall into the hands of builders and developers."  ("Threatened by
Cloverleaf", The News Gazette, New Castle, DE.)

In 1996, Anne Barczewski was honored with a prestigious historic
preservation award from the New Castle County Historic Preservation Review
Board.  The Board placed a protective Historic Zoning overlay upon the
entire 236 acres of the La Grange farm.

In 1997, Anne Barczewski was recognized as Delaware's Tree Farmer of the
Year.   On June 27, 1997, Anne Barczewski told preservation advocates, "If
it was my last word, my last breath, I'd say 'no' to a developer."  ("Where
Green Trees, Not Greenbacks, Flourish.  Anne Barczewski resists developers'
offers and wins the state's Tree Farmer of the Year Award."  The News
Journal, Wilmington, DE.  Robin Brown, 6/27/1997, pg. B-3.)

More over, there has not been a moneyman yet who has been able to persuade
Anne Barczewski to part with a parcel of her land.  ("Treasure in the woods.
Delaware farmers learn there is good money, and environmental bonuses, in
well-managed timberland.  Bucking development."  The News Journal, Business
Monday insert, Wilmington, DE.  Terry Conway.  10/27/1997.  Section D, pages
D10 through D12.)

"I've had some very favorable offers over the past 20 years," said Anne
Barczewski, an 87-year-old widow, in October 1997.  "The developers keep
coming and I keep saying 'No way.'"

"She always wanted the farm preserved", said Dr. George Haenlein, who has
known Anne Barczewski since 1951.  ("Glasgow auction bids on history."
Robin Brown.  The News Journal, Wilmington, DE.  7/13/2003)

If you would like to help protect this property from development and
permanently preserve its historic, cultural, and natural resources for
future generations, please contact The Friends of Historic Glasgow, ATTN:
Nancy V. Willing,  5 Francis Circle, Newark, DE 19711. Telephone: (302)
366-1855.  E-mail:  [log in to unmask]

A petition focused on saving the Glasgow Historic Area, including the
Barczewski farm, is located at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/historicglasgowpark

The Friends of Historic Glasgow general website is located at:

http://neighborhoodlink.com/public/clubhome.html?nclubid=888222976&nsupercit
y=950560750