Gap View Farm
Gap View Farm | |
![]() Farmhouse in the 1930s | |
Nearest city | Charles Town, West Virginia |
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Coordinates | 39°20′37.57″N 77°50′55.00″W / 39.3437694°N 77.8486111°W |
Built | 1774 |
Architect | Walter Baker |
Architectural style | Georgian, Colonial Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 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.
Origin of name
[edit]The property gets its name from its view of the gap in the Blue Ridge made by the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry.[2]
History
[edit]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 she returned to live there after her mother's death.[3] Buckles would ultimately become the last American survivor of World War I, and lived there until his death on February 27, 2011, aged 110.[4]
On January 9, 1997, the farm and property were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2][5]
Description
[edit]Gap view is a two-story three-bay brick house, with prominent stepped parapets at the gable ends. As originally built, it was arranged with a side hall plan, that was later changed to a center hall arrangement.[6]
Conservation
[edit]Susannah Mayo Buckles, daughter of Frank Buckles,[7] runs the day-to-day operations of the farm and has made the farm more eco-friendly. In May 2008, volunteers planted over 1,000 trees and shrubs on the farm.[8]
Many local agencies have worked to plant trees and shrubs, as well as wetland species of trees and shrubs, along the property's stream and wetland areas.[8]
Ms. Buckles also installed 15,000 feet of fencing as part land retirement program called the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.[9] The fencing separated the farm's conservation areas from the farm's other residents, 130 head of cattle.[9]
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.[9] The farm had won Jefferson County Conservation Farmer of the Year in 2009.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Jean Crolius Ehman (June 1996), National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Gap View Farm (PDF), National Park Service
- ^ a b Henry, Beth (February 2, 2010). "Last living U.S. World War I vet turns 109". The Journal.
- ^ "Rockefeller Honors World War I Veteran Frank Buckles of Charles Town". Office of Senator Jay Rockefeller. March 6, 2008. Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
- ^ "Gap View Farm". National Register of Historic Places. Archived from the original on June 16, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
- ^ Allen, John C. Jr. (2011). Uncommon Vernacular: The Early Houses of Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1735-1835. West Virginia University Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-1-933202-87-7.
- ^ Susannah Buckles, geni.com.
- ^ a b "West Virginia Success Story". West Virginia NCRS. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Smoot, Naomi (July 21, 2009). "Farm could earn honor". The Journal. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011.
External links
[edit]Media related to Gap View Farm (Charles Town, West Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. WV-11, "Gap View Farm, Charles Town vicinity, Jefferson County, WV", 2 photos
- Colonial Revival architecture in West Virginia
- Colonial architecture in West Virginia
- Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia
- Georgian architecture in West Virginia
- Historic American Buildings Survey in West Virginia
- Historic districts in Jefferson County, West Virginia
- Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia
- Houses completed in 1774
- Houses in Jefferson County, West Virginia
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, West Virginia