A developer in Glasgow, Delaware has signed a contract to develop the
Barczewski farm (also known as the La Grange) to place 232 houses and a 5 acre commercial shopping center on the property. He also intends to allow a local 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. Local residents report to Sprawl-Busters, “The 136 acres of woods on the farm are in a US Department of Agriculture 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. General Lafayette named the farm “La Grange” while a visitor there in October 1824. Approximately 100 acres are pastures, and approximately 136 acres are wooded. 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 property has a carefully restored historic home and
preserved granary. 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/ On May 30, 1973, Anne Barczewski vowed that the 236 acres of her farm “will never fall into the hands of builders and developers… If it was my last word, my last breath, I’d say ‘no’ to a developer. I’ve had some very favorable offers over the past 20 years. The developers keep coming and I keep saying ‘No way.'”
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: [email protected] . A petition focused on saving the Glasgow Historic Area, including the Barczewski farm, is located at: http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/historicglasgowpark
