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7 <br /> I. Background <br /> In late 2001, Orange County's Lands Legacy Program acquired a 152-acre tract <br /> of land in northern Chapel Hill Township, bordering NC 86 and New Hope <br /> Church Road, for a future park site. This acquisition culminated several months <br /> of negotiations with the Blackwood family trustees, owners of the property. By <br /> 2001, the two surviving children of Herbert and Alice Blackwood, Nannie and <br /> Mary Blackwood', were both in their eighties and the family was looking to sell <br /> the property. The opportunity to sell the land for a future County park was <br /> embraced by the family, and the land was acquired. <br /> Human History of the Site <br /> This land has been farmed since the mid- to late-1700s by some of the early <br /> European settlers of Orange County. This area was settled by Scots-Irish and <br /> German immigrants, who by 1745 had arrived in what was to become Orange <br /> County. After a brief period living in the Hawfields area (now Alamance County), <br /> members of six families—among them the Strayhorns and the Blackwoods- <br /> purchased land along a creek of the Haw River system, which they named "New <br /> Hope Creek." <br /> According to deed research, the Strayhorn family has been associated with the <br /> property as early as 1817, and it is likely that Samuel Strayhorn was responsible <br /> for the construction of the earliest portion of the house dating to 1827. The farm <br /> was later owned by William F. Strayhorn (Samuel's son) and his heirs. <br /> Herbert and Alice Blackwood purchased the farm from Mary Strayhorn Berry and <br /> her husband Dr. John Berry in 1906, and operated a dairy (along with their eight <br /> children) until their deaths in 1958-59. According to Nannie Blackwood, from <br /> whom the County purchased the property, the family raised corn, wheat, sweet <br /> potatoes and cotton. They took milk, butter, eggs, and vegetables to sell in <br /> Durham until the 1950s. Most agricultural activities were phased out by the <br /> 1980s, and for the past 20 years or more farming on this site has been limited to <br /> hay production. <br /> In addition to the recorded European-American history on this site, there is <br /> archaeological evidence that both Native Americans and African-Americans lived <br /> and worked in this area. <br /> Purpose and Characteristics of the Site <br /> Orange County's purchase of the Blackwood Farm was to protect this historic <br /> and scenic farm property for a future park site in a location (the New <br /> Hope/University Station area) that was consistent with the County's recreation <br /> ' Both Blackwood sisters have since passed away,in 2005 and 2006. <br /> 2 <br />