Agenda - 03-03-2011 - 7b - Laserfiche WebLink

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