Gap View Farm, near

Charles Town, West Virginia Charles Town is a city in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, and is also the county seat. The population was 5,259 at the 2010 census. It is named for its founder Charles Washington, youngest brother of President George Washington. ...

, is a historic farm complex built in 1774. The farm was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on January 9, 1997.

Origin of name

The property gets its name from its view of the gap in the Blue Ridge made by the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

History

Walter Baker came to then, Berkeley County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, in 1770 and began clearing the property. A small limestone house was built by Baker in 1750, on property that was granted to Henry Lloyd by

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (22 October 16939 December 1781), was a Scottish peer. He was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and Catherine Colepeper, daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper. The ...

. The main house of the farm was built by Baker in 1774. At Baker's death in 1820, the property was sold by Baker's widow, Jacobina, to James L. Ranson. When Ranson fell on hard times, he sold it to Parker Strode in 1868. In 1871, the property was acquired by Charles Aglionby, who owned the adjoining Mount Pleasant estate and a portion of Media Farm. Over time the house was expanded in four phases. In 1937, the farm was again sold to a family by the name of Barlett. In 1954, the farm was purchased by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

Frank Buckles Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901February 27, 2011) was a United States Army corporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at the age of 16 and served wi ...

and his wife Audrey (who died in 1999). Their daughter Susannah was born there in 1955, and she returned to live there after her mother's death. Buckles would ultimately become the last American survivor of World War I, and lived there until his death on February 27, 2011, aged 110. On January 9, 1997, the farm and property were placed on the

Description

Gap view is a two-story three-bay brick house, with prominent stepped parapets at the gable ends. As originally built, it was arranged with a side hall plan, that was later changed to a center hall arrangement.

Conservation

Susannah Mayo Buckles, daughter of

,Susannah Buckles
geni.com. runs the day-to-day operations of the farm and has made the farm more eco-friendly. In May 2008, volunteers planted over 1,000 trees and shrubs on the farm. Many local agencies have worked to plant trees and shrubs, as well as wetland species of trees and shrubs, along the property's stream and wetland areas. Ms. Buckles also installed 15,000 feet of fencing as part land retirement program called the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. The fencing separated the farm's conservation areas from the farm's other residents, 130 head of cattle. In July 2009, it was announced that the farm was in the running for the West Virginia Conservation Farmer of the Year, though it is unclear if the farm won. The farm had won Jefferson County Conservation Farmer of the Year in 2009.

References

External links

* * {{National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in West Virginia Colonial architecture in West Virginia Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Georgian architecture in West Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in West Virginia Historic districts in Jefferson County, West Virginia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Houses completed in 1774 Houses in Jefferson County, West Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, West Virginia