Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

    We heard earlier this week that the famed Harris House from Spotyslvania Battlefield was destroyed. Apparently the building which was on the National Register of Historic Places was razed. There are no word's to describe how sickening this is. The property had been sold a few weeks ago. Personally, This is very sad.

    Spotsylvania Battle Landmark, GONE! Harris Farm House Destroyed!
    http://spotsylvaniacw.blogspot.com/2014/12/spotsylvania-battle-landmark-gone.html
         UPDATED 12/21/2014! See end of post for recent sale activity on the property! Additional photos added to the post 9:15 am, 12/21/20...


    Page Not Found
    http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/spotsylvaniacourthouse/spotsylvania-history/harris-farm.html
    Sorry, the page you were looking for doesn’t exist. Have you tried our keyword search? Go to the homepage or email us at web@battlefields.org if we...


    Access to this page has been denied
    http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6705-Pond-View-Ln-Spotsylvania-VA-22553/64667073_zpid/
    px-captcha
    Drew

    "God knows, as many posts as go up on this site everyday, there's plenty of folks who know how to type. Put those keyboards to work on a real issue that's tied to the history that we love and obsess over so much." F.B.

    "...mow hay, cut wood, prepare great food, drink schwitzel, knit, sew, spin wool, rock out to a good pinch of snuff and somehow still find time to go fly a kite." N.B.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

    That house looked in great shape. Can't believe they just tore it down. I didn't think that was an option for something on the National Register. I hate to see things like this happen to old house. That one was around before the Revolution much less the CW. Shame.
    Rob Bruno
    1st MD Cav
    http://1stmarylandcavalry.com

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

      Originally posted by rbruno View Post
      I didn't think that was an option for something on the National Register.
      Yeah- what failed here?
      Johnny Lloyd
      John "Johnny" Lloyd
      Moderator
      Think before you post... Rules on this forum here
      SCAR
      Known to associate with the following fine groups: WIG/AG/CR

      "Without history, there can be no research standards.
      Without research standards, there can be no authenticity.
      Without the attempt at authenticity, all is just a fantasy.
      Fantasy is not history nor heritage, because it never really existed." -Me

      Proud descendant of...

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

        Sadly, National Register status affords little additional protection.
        Pat Brown

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

          History trumped by developer money. Sad but happens all too often. I am sure there was a need for more plywood houses on that hill.
          Jim Mayo
          Portsmouth Rifles, Company G, 9th Va. Inf.

          CW Show and Tell Site
          http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/index.html

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

            Please tell me this is an Onion.com fake story... sad. My heart hurts.
            Johnny Lloyd
            John "Johnny" Lloyd
            Moderator
            Think before you post... Rules on this forum here
            SCAR
            Known to associate with the following fine groups: WIG/AG/CR

            "Without history, there can be no research standards.
            Without research standards, there can be no authenticity.
            Without the attempt at authenticity, all is just a fantasy.
            Fantasy is not history nor heritage, because it never really existed." -Me

            Proud descendant of...

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

              No, it is listed as being sold for $125K. We could have raised that on this site in an afternoon with a matched grant from the CWPT. SIGH!
              Ivan Ingraham
              AC Moderator

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

                Originally posted by Ambrose Bierce View Post
                No, it is listed as being sold for $125K. We could have raised that on this site in an afternoon with a matched grant from the CWPT. SIGH!
                That assumes, of course the owner, wanted to sell to CWT.
                Bill Backus

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

                  Disappointing the lack of respect for the history of the place and the lack of respect for those who fought there. Heart-breaking to say the least......
                  Robert Pardi
                  71st PVI, Co. K

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

                    Gentle Readers,

                    Please go to your favorite search engine and type in something such as "historic preservation homes" or look up homes built pre-war that are currently for sale. MANY homes, some on the National Register, sit...rotting...waiting for a buyer or buyers, in virtually every state involved in the war. Some are 100% re-done, others are totally gutted. Yes, many are not on battlefield-lands, but some are close and all have history. Many are in northern states (MI, IN, IL, OH, etc.).

                    It breaks my heart to see these homes disappear or simply rot and collapse...once gone, never to stand again.

                    It would be nice to buy all these homes...either for personal use, for museums, or what have you.

                    Todd Vajner
                    Todd Vajner
                    Fayetteville, NC

                    18th North Carolina Troops
                    9th New Jersey "Muskrats"

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

                      An 18th-century home in Spotsylvania County that is on the National Register of Historic Places was demolished this month, taking some local preservationists by surprise.
                      The Bloomsbury farmhouse off Courthouse Road, built in the 1780s, was in disrepair, according to the current owner, who said he would’ve loved to restore it.
                      “The termites beat me to it about 10 years ago, and there was nothing left,” owner Leonard Atkins said. “We just decided it was too dangerous to bring back to life.”

                      He’s a partner in the company ATP Solutions LLC, which purchased the farmhouse from Johnston Investment Inc. for $125,000 in November.
                      Local historian John Cummings broke the news of the demolition on his Civil War blog, with a headline stating, “Spotsylvania Battle Landmark GONE!” He said in an interview that he was saddened by the loss of what he called an “important cultural resource.”

                      “It was what it was—an extremely old house,” Cummings said. “But in the right hands, it could’ve been preserved and treated, I’m sure. To watch it go for $125,000, a lot of people are heartbroken. Somebody could have intervened.”Caroline Hayden, who helped start the now-inactive Spotsylvania Preservation Foundation Inc., called the news “an absolute tragedy.”
                      “Yes, it needed work, but it should never have been bulldozed,” she said, adding that it shows a “total disregard” for the county’s history.

                      Spotsylvania officials this month approved a permit to demolishthe farmhouse, in addition to a barn, silo and other outbuildings at the 2-acre site. Localities can’t stop a home from being razed just because it is on the Register of Historic Places.Lewis Watts, Spotsylvania’s chief building official, said he couldn’t verify the condition of the farmhouse, though he said he’s unaware of any complaints to the county about the building’s safety.The 2,652-square-foot home was one of the oldest still standing in Spotsylvania. It sat amidst the upscale Bloomsbury Farm Estates subdivision, built on land that was once part of the farm.The property also was known as the Harris Farm, and during the Civil War saw fighting. The Battle of Harris Farm claimed the lives of 1,535 Union troops and 900 Confederates. At one point, the house served as a field hospital where, Cummings says, his great-great-grandfather was treated.

                      The late Agnes McGee, who owned the home until she died in 2007, and researchers with the University of Mary Washington worked to have it put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
                      An application for the historic designation calls the home “architecturally significant” for its 18th-century construction methods.

                      But Erik Nelson, past president of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, said the Harris Farm battlefield site has been “seriously compromised” by all of the large homes that have been built there.
                      “Because of that, it just wasn’t going to rise to the top,” Nelson said of the Bloomsbury farmhouse. “When you’re looking to preserve ground, you want to go where you can get the most bang for your buck.”He added that battlefield preservation groups are reluctant to buy homes.

                      Robert Krick, who was chief historian of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park from 1971 until 2001, attributed the outcome to what he called the county’s “relentless thirst for development.” “Survival of the house probably became a doomed proposition years ago, when immense houses were built right up to the verge of its lintel,” he wrote in an email.
                      Atkins, the current owner of the Bloomsbury farmhouse site, said he donated all of the furniture inside to a family that had lost its home to a fire. And he said walnut trees that were cut down on the property will be used to make furniture.

                      He said he plans to build another home at the site but wouldn’t say exactly who will live there. “I promise you, it’s not goingto be a cracker box,” said Atkins, who owns a large, 2-year-oldhome nearby. Atkins says he owns various properties—including the building that houses the Foode restaurant—in downtown Fredericksburg. In fact, he renovated that 110-year-old building at 1006 Caroline St. in 2004.
                      “I enjoy rebuilding old properties,” he said. “I like to bring everything back to its original state.”
                      He said he intended to renovate the farmhouse, but found that termites had destroyed almost every building on the property.
                      About two weeks ago, he said, he invited several “history buffs” and local businesspeople to tour the old home. The interior was in such bad shape that the guests were afraid to go to the second floor, he said.

                      The home’s vinyl siding covered weatherboard that was full of fungus and bugs, he said. “The outside of the house was extremely deceiving,” he said of the appearance.
                      He said the farmhouse—which he says also had a partially collapsed roof—had been on the market for two years, but nobody was interested because of its condition.
                      “It was time to bring the boy on down before somebody got seriously hurt,” Atkins said.
                      ​Jeff Branscome: 540.374-5402

                      http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/local/spotsylvania/historic-spotsylvania-farm-house-demolished/article_4e6ce35f-1df9-5f1f-ac7d-e829cc740749.html
                      Last edited by Busterbuttonboy; 12-24-2014, 07:18 AM.
                      Drew

                      "God knows, as many posts as go up on this site everyday, there's plenty of folks who know how to type. Put those keyboards to work on a real issue that's tied to the history that we love and obsess over so much." F.B.

                      "...mow hay, cut wood, prepare great food, drink schwitzel, knit, sew, spin wool, rock out to a good pinch of snuff and somehow still find time to go fly a kite." N.B.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

                        This certainly is a shame. When historic places such as this are lost forever, we all lose.

                        Regards,

                        Richard O'Flaherty
                        Richard O'Flaherty
                        Private Daggett

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Harris House (Spotsylvania) Razed!

                          This moves me in a way I MUST comment!!!

                          For 125K???? That won't buy a couple rooms of a 2 story house in some locations!!! GOOD GAWD!!!

                          Built in 1780....stood the test of time and termites for 235 years.............and within 8 hours (probably) its now GONE!!!

                          JEEEZUS WEPT!!!

                          James
                          James Ross

                          Comment

                          Previous template Next
                          Working...
                          X