Gap View Farm
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Farmhouse in the 1930s
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Nearest city: | Charles Town, West Virginia |
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Built: | 1774 |
Architect: | Walter Baker |
Architectural style: | Georgian, Colonial Revival |
Governing body: | Private |
NRHP Reference#: | 96001574 |
Added to NRHP: | January 9, 1997[1] |
Gap View Farm, near Charles Town, West Virginia, is a historic farm complex built in 1774. The farm was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 1997.
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The property gets its name from its view of the gap in the Blue Ridge made by the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry.[2]
Walter Baker came to then, Berkeley County, Virginia, in 1770 and began clearing the property.[2] A small limestone house was built by Baker in 1750, on property that was granted to Henry Lloyd by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.[2] The main house of the farm was built by Baker in 1774.[2] At Baker's death in 1820, the property was sold by Baker's widow, Jacobina, to James L. Ranson.[2] When Ranson fell on hard times, he sold it to Parker Strode in 1868.[2] In 1871, the property was acquired by Charles Aglionby, who owned the adjoining Mount Pleasant estate and a portion of Media Farm.[2] Over time the house was expanded in four phases. In 1937, the farm was again sold to a family by the name of Barlett.[2]
In 1954, the farm was purchased by World War I veteran Frank Buckles and his wife Audrey (who died in 1999).[3] Their daughter Susannah was born there in 1955 and would come back to live there after her Mother's death.[3] Buckles would ultimately become the last U.S. survivor of World War I, and lived there until his death on February 27, 2011 at the age of 110.[4]
On January 9, 1997, the farm and property were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2][5]
Susannah Buckles Flanagan and husband Mike Flanagan run the day-to-day operations of the farm and have made the farm more eco-friendly. In May 2008, volunteers planted over 1,000 trees and shrubs on the farm.[6]
Many local agencies have worked with the Flanagans to trees and shrubs, as well as wetland species of trees and shrubs, along the property's stream and wetland areas.[6]
The Flanagans also installed 15,000 feet of fencing as part land retirement program called the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.[7] The fencing separated the farm's conservation areas from the farm's other residents, 130 head of cattle.[7]
In July 2009, it was announced that the farm was in the running for the West Virginia Conservation Farmer of the Year, though it is unclear if the farm won.[7] The farm had won Jefferson County Conservation Farmer of the Year in 2009.[7]
In October 2009, the property was being "challenged" by development, causing the Flanagans to consider the West Virginia Agricultural Land Protection Program to prevent that from happening.[8]
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