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Par a 0 n purchase a roved PP 0 iz - /S' 01 County to buy farm for $ 2 million BY STEPHAAN HAR.RIS STAFF WRITER Orange County plans to spend $2 million on 152 acres of historic farmland between Hillsborough THE NEWS & � and Chapel Hill that will be the site Rom PageOne 1�of a new park, officials announced AB 0 DECEMBER 15 , 2001 Friday. The county commissioners ap- proved the $ 13 , 609,-per-acre pur- a complex of farm structures and a chase of the largely wooded land - LAND portion of " Stagecoach Road," an Tuesday, located near New Hope CONTINUED FRo►v1 PAGE 1 B old highway that runs from Hills- Church Road and N . C . 86 . The borough to Chapel Hill . The proper- property is owned by the Black- would fit well into the county's plans ty also has a 3-acre pond and two wood family, one of Orange Coun- to acquire preservation sites . streams that flow through it into ty ' s oldest, predating the Ameri- "We felt like . . . it would be a much New Hope Creek. can Revolution , better angle to go at rather than try The property has remained large- The deal, scheduled to be final- to sell it to a developer, " said David ly intact for more than 200 years , ized by next week, is part of the coup- « Blackwood , a Cary resident. It although small parcels were sold for ty's Lands Legacy program, which tries to acquire land for preservation would allow for the i ty of prop- the construction of Interstate 40 and ntegri or recreation. Plans for the Black- erty to stay intact. New Hope Elementary School . WNWdo wood land have not been finalized, Most of the original farm is still but the historic farmstead will there, including an old farmhouse Staff writer Stephaan Harris can he reached remain intact, officials said. (portions of which date back to 1827) , at 9324015 or shams@newsobserveuom " The property is a combination of everything that's important for our natural and cultural resources, " said David Stancil, county environment and resource conservation director. "We're very appreciative of the fam- ily working through us . " The property is co -owned by sis- ters Mary and Nannie Blackwood, both in their early 80s , and the younscst children of Herbert and Alice Blackwood, who purchased the farm in 1906. Co-owner David Black- wood, the sisters ' nephew, said the family decided to sell the land after determining that the two women would be better off living where they could be cared for. The family also thought about sell- ing the land to a developer, Black- wood said. But a neighbor who knew Stancil suggested that the property SEE LAND, PAGE 4B