The Greenbelt property was once part of a large estate owned by Major Ben Perley Poore, the son of a merchant, and a famed editor and newspaperman. An avid horticulturist, he planted many trees over most of the hill, which had previously been cleared, and designed extensive terraces, formal gardens and winding cart-paths. The land passed to his daughter, Alice, who married into the Moseley family. Most recently, the farm was owned by Edward S. and Winifred Moseley, both of whom died in the summer of 2006. A fire in 1959 had destroyed the large barn and much of the original mansion. Rather than raze the entire estate building, the burned out portion was eliminated and the original structure became two smaller homes, which are now privately owned.
Greenbelt completed the conservation of this land in 2007. An innovative public/private partnership, using a combination of conservation restrictions (CRs), outright purchases and a generous gift of land, made conserving this land possible. |
