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Celebrating a historic development

By Staff | Dec 30, 2022

We did it! Dec. 1 marked the historic day when the Far Away Farm became forever protected from development!

The Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association was able to contribute substantially to this effort, by raising $77,000 in its Far Away Farm fund for the American Battlefield Trust, reaching more than 75 percent of our original goal. At the beginning of this month, American Battlefield Trust staff signed the papers for the transfer of the farm from the former developer to the American Battlefield Trust. Work began immediately afterward, to establish a conservation easement to be administered by the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle, and for an early to mid-2023 transfer of the property from the American Battlefield Trust to the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, current holder of the other battlefield property deeds.

Since 2003, Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association members and supporters have vastly increased recognition of the key role of the Battle of Shepherdstown as the culmination of the Confederate Army’s 1862 Maryland Campaign. The current Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association officers and Board of Directors would especially like to recognize and thank all the current and past donors, board members, presidents, advisors, members, supporters and battlefield neighbors. We’ve hosted educational meetings and fundraising parties in town, information tables at town events, and participated in battlefield and road cleanups, battlefield tours, crossings of the Packhorse/Boteler’s Ford and Battlefield BBQs!

At last, we arrive at the historic moment when the Far Away Farm is preserved as a permanent monument to the Battle of Shepherdstown, now an indisputable part of our local, state and national history. Our knowledge of the battle, farm and Cement Mill will continue to increase! Just this year, we met an 80-plus-year-old gentleman who found a Union canteen on the cliffs above the river, when he was just 14-years-old! An iron head from a sledgehammer was found at the Cement Mill kilns by a passing kayaker, who was kind enough to contribute it for a future artifact exhibit. A cave sealed since the 1840s was rediscovered, although it was containing a bat colony. And several battlefield tours, including the Far Away Farm for the first time, were presented by Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association Director Kevin Pawlak. So many recent milestones!

The donations to the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association’s Far Away Farm fund and the many conversations I’ve had with supporters demonstrate widespread public approval of our efforts, which are by no means finished! As public awareness of the battlefield continues to increase, so will issues related to issues like traffic, parking, garbage and vandalism. Our continued participation in battlefield cleanup days, Trough Road garbage pickup, public education programs and battlefield tours will remain essential to the preservation of the battlefield, until its eventual transfer to the National Park Service has been accomplished. But until then, we must continue our efforts, so these properties are worthy of National Battlefield Park status.

Thank you for making this historic day happen! The Far Away Farm, also known as Mountain View Farm in 1883, is saved!

Mike Nickerson, Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association president