Out of the Blue...

After I blogged yesterday, I looked over my e-mail and hestitated about whether to open one letter or consign it to the trash file. It had a woman's name as the sender, and started out, "Hello. You may be wondering why you're receiving an e-mail from Maryland..." Luckily my curiosity got the better of me, and I read the letter. It has sent me digging into newspaper archives and sending off information to a plethora of my husband's relatives - a great way to spend a snowy and rainy day! It all goes back to Ignatius Pigman Ward - he who had so many offspring that spread like crazy all across the States... He was my husband's fourth great-grandfather; his granddaughter married James O. Gingle (upon whose farm the NIH built the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda), and their daughter married Charles M. Devine, becoming my great-grandmother-in-law. Since I had mentioned Ignatius Pigman Ward in a previous blog, I received the letter regarding the fate of Belward Farm.

What is left of the original farm of the Ward family, around what was then known as Hunting Hill, has been steadfastly preserved by the last of the line in the area. Elizabeth Beall Banks refused to sell off any portion of her 138 acre farm, lately used for raising cattle. She wanted to preserve a little bit of country in the area between Gaithersburg and Rockville, Maryland, refusing huge offers from land developers so they could build housing on the idyllic farm property. She reached terms with Johns Hopkins back in 1989, and sold the rights to her property to them for $5 million (much less than the $40 million the developers offered), with the stipulation that, after her death the land would be used for "agricultural, academic, research and development, delivery of health and medical care and services, or related purposes only." It was not long after Banks passed away in 2005 at the age of 93, and when the plans for the Gaithersburg West Master Plan were underway, that the intent of the deed was ignored. Today, Johns Hopkins and the Montgomery County Park and Planning Commission (MCPPC) are proposing 300 housing units and commercial establishments in Belward. They wish to build a "Science City" encompassing 800 acres, and covering the farmland with multiple-storied buildings, rising between 4 and 10 stories high. Of course, according to them this will generate 60,000 jobs just in that area. At the end of today's blog are several URLs regarding this travesty, if you have any interest.

There is currently about 3 inches of snow on the ground, and it is raining, as it has done since yesterday evening. Nederland has received 34 inches of snow so far; most of the interstate highways have been closed since yesterday morning, and the state and the Red Cross have opened multiple emergency stop centers for people trapped on the roads with nowhere to go. It's 36 degrees outside, we're expecting 59 tomorrow, and the 70s for the rest of the week. The kits have run out and ran right back inside. Lovey knows that something's up - she is sitting in my lap and doesn't want to budge - I'll be leaving at 10 to run Kathy and Jim to the airport.
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Satellite map: http://wikimapia.org/4415446/BelwardFarm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31546-2005Jan23.html

http://74.125.95.132/searchq=cache:AkxyE29SbOEJ:www.mcc.jhu.edu/data/Newsletters/Hopk%2520Happ%2520Mar%252005.pdf+%22Belward+Farm%22B+Elizabeth+Beall+Banks&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

http://www.gazette.net/stories/02182009/gaitnew211748_32480.shtml

http://www.gazette.net/stories/032608/montnew63752_32368.shtml

http://74.125.47.132/searchq=cache:eU63IbUhwGcJ:www.reasonabledevelopment.info/letter1_to_Planning_Board_january4.pdf+%22Belward+Farm%22%2BMD&cd=17&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

http://blog.eventsintime.com/ - scroll to bottom of April 5, 2009 to see photo of lone oak tree on farm

http://blog.eventsintime.com/2008/12/rare-sunset-photo-of-belward-farm-oak.html - same tree at sunset