Maria Karlberg-Levin wrote letter to submit to the Herald and the Intelligencer about the Gardenville Development. The Drove Roads to Gardenville This past holiday season I took myself to the Spruance Library in Doylestown. The Spruance Library, for those who do not know, is a wonderful resource of local records and documents dating back to the 1600’s, before we were a country. I was looking for details that would help me flesh out the history of a Plumstead Township property, the Laquer Farm in Gardenville. Situated on the South side of Point Pleasant Pike, West of Route 413, this 9+ acre property is currently on track for high-density housing, which would include the demolition of it’s wonderful, circa 1810 vernacular Pennsylvania fieldstone farmhouse. A barn on the property has already been removed (sold?). A not so familiar profession popped up while perusing mid 1800’s Intelligencer classifieds- Droving. Companies who “drove” horses from states north, west and Canada to Plumstead Township would market their livestock at local taverns. There once was a tavern on the Laquer property, The Plough Tavern, owned by Charles M. Price. Two local family names associated with Droving at that time were Leatherman and Vasey. These sir names are still held by residents of Plumstead Township. The Laquer Farm, listed in the Gardenville-North Branch National Register Historic District, can be traced back to Francis Plumstead, a British Ironmonger who in 1723 was paid in pounds and shillings by Richard Hill, a Philadelphia businessman for 2500 acres, part of which would become Plumstead Township. Whether the future homebuyers of the Garden Village lots will have recently arrived in the township of Plumstead or will have lived here all their lives, naming a development road Plough Lane, after an earlier place of business, The Plough Tavern, is not adequate homage to the history of the property or the community where it is located Plumstead Township has an opportunity and a responsibility to prevent the developer from demolishing the Laquer Farm. Plumstead Township can better serve the proposed neighborhood of Garden Village and the greater Gardenville community by restoring the Laquer Farm. In so doing, an authentic piece of Plumstead Township’s history, culture and natural environment, so well publicized and sought after, would be preserved for the benefit of all of its citizens.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 22:57:48 +0000
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