| Piedmont
Read below for examples of recent land and historic preservation projects that are helping communities in the North Carolina Piedmont. If you’d like to suggest a project to be highlighted on this website, please e-mail nominations for projects to Kate Dixon, Director, at kdixon@landfortomorrow.org or call her at 919-403-8558 x 1009.
- In 1995, a farm in the heart of the Sutphin Mill farming community on the Chatham-Alamance County line went on the market. Land prices had been rising fast enough in this community located halfway between the Triad and the Triangle that no farmer could afford to buy it. Other farmers were very concerned about the effect a housing development might have on their own ability to farm. They knew they needed a group of farms together to keep other associated businesses, such as feed and tractor stores, profitable. They also worried that new neighbors might complain about farm practices like pesticide use and slow moving machinery on the roads. They turned to the Piedmont Land Conservancy and American Farmland Trust to help them find a solution. By piecing together funding from a variety of sources, the Piedmont Land Conservancy was able to purchase the farm at fair market value, place permanent restrictions within the deed on any future non-agricultural development on the farm, and then resell it at its farm value to a farmer. This project was so successful that four other Sutphin Mill farmers have since entered into similar agreements, and more than 500 acres of farmland have now been permanently protected.
- Turning the abandoned American Tobacco railroad line into a trail has been a dream for many years of Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (TRTC), and, through a regional effort, that dream is coming true. The railroad ran more than 23 miles from Bonsal in western Wake County through Chatham County into downtown Durham. Now, thanks to the efforts of TRTC and Durham and Wake County's Parks Departments, the trail bustles with life as walkers, runners and bikers exercise and commute on the miles of completed trail. TRTC is now working with Chatham County to help raise the funds needed to link the Durham and Wake sections. The trail is now enhanced by the renovation of the historic American Tobacco factory and warehouses, a model mixed-use historic redevelopment project, at the terminus of the trail.
- Glencoe Mill Village, built in 1880 on the Haw River near Burlington, was one of the last water-powered mills to be built in the state. The 105-acre site still includes the old mill complex, 32 of the original mill houses, the mill store, office, lodge, other associated buildings and more than a mile of frontage on the Haw River including half a mile of undeveloped land. In 1998, Preservation NC purchased the vacant property and developed a master plan for the site with the help of nearly 90 architects and other design professionals. Among the goals of the master plan are preserving the historic structures, conserving open space along the Haw River as a park and encouraging the development of compatible infill houses and other buildings. Almost all the original mill houses have now been sold to private families, and several new infill houses have been built including one that was selected by Country Living magazine as its 2002 House of the Year. Sidewalks, bike trails and walking paths are being built and street trees planted thanks to a US Department of Transportation grant. An experienced developer is rehabilitating the mill into apartments and commercial space. The restoration of this historic place has already contributed more than $10 million to the economy of Alamance County, and it is reusing land productively rather than impacting rural or natural land that has never been developed. The mill also has the potential to be a major tourist destination. Local preservationists dream of a museum village where visitors can learn about textiles' influence in the post-war South. Glencoe may someday be an attraction on the scale of Old Salem.
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