Please Help Save The Wonderful John Jay Homestead
Down the road from my home in Bedford is the 62-acre John Jay Homestead Historic State Park. John Jay, who lived from 1745 to 1829, was one of America's principal founding fathers. Jay was a co-author of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the revolutionary War, and also the Federalist Papers, which aided ratification of the US Constitution. He served as president of the Continental Congress, as US Secretary for Foreign Affairs, first Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, and as the second governor of New York State. In 1801, after his distinguished career in public service, John Jay retired to Bedford, where he created a comfortable home and a working farm. After his death, this profitable farm was looked after by four succeeding generations of the Jay family, before it was turned into a state park.
Throughout the years, the John Jay Homestead has been used as an important educational tool for area students and many organizations hold festivals and meetings upon the grounds. With the ongoing fiscal crisis in New York State, there has been talk of closing many state parks and historic sites, including the John Jay Homestead. The thought of closing any of these wonderful spaces makes me very sad, but with John Jay Homestead right down the road, it hits very close to home. For anyone interested in keeping this historic site open to the public, please visit http://www.johnjayhomestead.org/
1 Right down the road from my farm, at 400 Jay Street, is the John Jay Homestead.
2 The main house looks generally as it did when finished in 1801. John Jay lived here for the last twenty-nine years of his life. Tours of the interior are available.
3 The view from the front porch across the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley
4 The long and inviting Farm Road on the property
5 This arrow indicated that this drive is part of the BRLA - Bedford Riding Lanes Association.
6 Meet John Jay and his family.
7 A friendly gate leading into the herb garden
8 The herb garden was designed in 1992 by Paige Dickey, a nationally recognized garden designer and author. It is based on typical 18th and 19th century American and English gardens. Established in 1993, the garden is maintained by the New York Unit of the Herb Society of America.
9 The herb garden is a lovely combination of culinary and medicinal herbs.
10 The potting sheds - very important buildings for the farm's operations
11 The compost bin - a very practical and efficient design
12 The formal sundial and fountain garden
13 The sundial in the sundial garden - circa 1915
14 The beautiful and stately fountain
15 This explains John Jay's love of nature and how his family found such pleasure in the gardens surrounding their home.
16 This wonderful building is the main barn, built around 1830. Today, it is used for many special events.
17 Another view
18 The coachman's house
19 This is the carriage barn - it was used for housing horses and storing carriages and tack.
20 This chart explains how barns are essential to a working farm.
21 This foundation is all that is left of the cow barn.
22 This explains how carefully every detail of the farm was planned out.
23 This building is called the brick cottage - it served as the farm manager's residence. John Jay provided his tenant farmers with small cottages and their own garden plots.
24 This field is called the brick lot because the clay found here was used to make bricks. Today, it is a nice spot for a picnic.
25 You can watch the resident deer.
Martha I suggest you purchase the park from the State otherwise I see houses and condo's going up on the beautiful site.
Posted by: Ann | March 15th, 2010 at 6:31 am
...What a beautiful farm! Thank you for posting about this...
)
...And I agree with 'Ann' up there regarding you purchasing the farm yourself. It would take someone with the financial resources such as yourself to save this lovely farm from certain ruin. I'm just sayin'...
)
...Please keep us posted with updates regarding this place.
...Blessings Martha...
Posted by: tj | March 15th, 2010 at 7:55 am
Our Country needs to get back to basics, common sense, and stop allowing our right to take care of our own health to be stolen from us by lies..
Thank you for your many years of teaching us the basics of survival in order to gain independence. Very serious issues but thank you for your interest.
Posted by: ann | March 15th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Martha. You should buy the homestead It would be a good use of your financial resources and a good contribution to the community you love.
Posted by: patti | March 15th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Martha.....I suggest you purchase this Park....
It will be a testatement to your creative talent
to refurbish it to its original state......
Great opportunity.....
Posted by: Sharon | March 15th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Thank you for sharing this information with us Martha. It always helps to let your state representatives and state senators know how you feel about these issues.
Posted by: Teresa Touey | March 15th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Hi Martha. . . .I totally agree with ann & tj .. .Why dont you attempt to purchase the property and keep it as is. . . we all know that if it is closed there will be condos/homes and maybe even retail (I shudder at that) though I am sure the property would not be zoned for that.
Why cant our government mind their own business and let our beautiful nature settings be.
I am a Native Long Islander and pray that our beautiful seashores are also not affected.
Keep us informed and you have my backing.
regards,nina
Posted by: nina zeumer | March 15th, 2010 at 10:21 am
I hate to see this happening. Without any grounds upkeep this beautiful historical haven in a land of concrete and rushing, it will be an unkept eyesore. It is a waste of the land.
Posted by: Katie Hager | March 15th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
.
A portion of the once 350 acre Crane/Spencer 1765 Homestead in Norton Massachusetts is also up for grabs.
.
The second largest U.S solar farm is under consideration for part of this Wampanoag Indian/John Alden/Royal Spencer descendancy site. A national pet memorial park is under construction and a United States animal charity operates on grounds.
.
Preservation of historic properties is our cultural footpath to the past's future.
.
Andrea Spencer
102 Crane St.
Norton, MA 02766
.
Posted by: ceospencer.blogspot.com | March 15th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Dear Martha....
Must be something that can be done.
With your connections of influential people, this plea for rescue must not go unnoticed.
You do so much good. Would you not receive complete and humble satisfaction knowing that future generations could look at this most historical park and, long after you were gone, would read how you continued its survival with your dedication to the preservation of its existence?
Imagine what would happen to this area if the developers were to gain access to this location! Complete and total destruction, forever. Another lost beautiful site of history destroyed, AND, an unsightly mess at your, and your neighbors, backdoor. Surely your neighbors must also want its preservation, and need to band together for its rescue with you
Perhaps it is time for an even greater legacy to commence from you Martha, as only you would be able to do....Your blog could be the beginning of a powerful and needed message in sustaining this site.
We all hope you will keep us updated on the future of the John Jay Homestead, and how you obviously care for her!
Good Luck Martha. It is a lovely state site.
Becky HK
Posted by: Becky HK | March 15th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
What a wonderful homestead accompanied by such lovely grounds! It must not allowed to go to ruin.
Posted by: sherey | March 15th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
The Knox estate here in East Aurora, New York is on the list too. It has riding trails, fields, sheep, goats, and other animals. It is a beautiful oasis that will certainly be goobled up by developers, since it has some of the best land surrounding this charming village.
You are right, Martha. If we lose our history, we lose our heart.
Posted by: Lee | March 15th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Hi Martha, How thoughtful of you to do a blog about this fabulous historical site that means a great deal to all of us who care about the history of our fantastic country. I can't imagine anyone even thinking about closing such a place. I wish I lived in New York so I could help protect it. It was so nice to be able to visit the John Jay Homestead through your superb photos. Loved your TV Show again today. The segment about the peonies was wonderful and I can't wait to see those in your peony garden at the farm this spring and summer. Hope you didn't have any problems from the latest storm in the Northeast area. Love, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | March 15th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
I don't understand the comments about purchasing a state park. State parks cannot be sold. Ten years ago the governor of Washington State sold a state park on the Olympic peninsula to the Mitsubish Corporation for a resort. Litigation brought to light that state parks belong to the citizens, in perpetuity, I believe. Selling a state park to a private citizen is not an effective solution. Closing a park until the state has the funds to reopen it is reasonable, if the state provides a caretaker and good maintenance while it is closed. That is where the efforts to save the park should go --- proper maintenance until it can reopen.
Posted by: Penny | March 16th, 2010 at 1:50 am
Yes, Penny is correct.
Knowledge is power, truth is freedom.
Posted by: Margie | March 16th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Martha - These photos remind me very much of John James Audubon's home Mill Grove here in Pennsylvania. It is one of my favorite places to visit and hike, and the vistas and the wildlife (especially the waterfowl, which seem to have alit from an Audubon print) never cease to take my breath away. I think you would love to visit, if you have not already. Maybe next time you are in the Philadelphia or King of Prussia area. Best regards, Lisa
Posted by: Lisa | March 16th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
I agree. Buy it yourself.
Posted by: Nan | March 16th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
If they cannot afford to maintain a park when it is opened I can assure you they will not maintain it when it is closed. Here in my county they closed an historic inn until the county had funds to renovate it. It became a haven for feral cats and an eyesore, and somehow there were never enough funds found in the budget to save it. Trust me, these parks are not that well-kept in the best of times. (One of the beautiful New York State owned Knox Farm barns has a roof that is falling in). Of course, it is a political ploy to get people all worked up, so they will accept higher taxation. It's a shame they can take the people's parks hostage like this instead of enacting actual budget cuts. SHAME on our NYS legislators. It is their problem not Martha's. She can't save everything .....well, she IS Martha. lol.
Posted by: Lee | March 17th, 2010 at 12:55 am
Just another vote asking you to purchase this homestead. It should be a national treasure. Martha, you can do this and I think our country would be better for it.
Please consider?
Sue in Renton, WA
Posted by: Sue | March 17th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
I heard a story about a park.....
Sections of a small state park in my original home state were shut down for some time quite a number of years ago due to lack of funds to keep it in full operation.
I remember the grounds very well as a small child. Family picnics, horseshoe, volleyball and softball games, all on cut green grass and located near clean, open, roof covered shelter houses.
When closed down, those areas became a habitat for abandonded cars, beer bottles, trash of all nature, and crime. The state released the grounds-keeper and the areas remaining open were considered so awful and unsightly due to any interest of care, and even dangerous. It became an unused and empty park as a result.
The local county, in response to demanding concerned citizens in action, appealed to the state for some type of control after months of applying for funds to restore and clean it up. The state in turn had repeatedly and regrettably refused, claiming they simply did not have the funds to grant the support of those areas of the park. However, due to legislation, the state could permit the abandoned areas over to the county for appropriate measures under the guidance and supervision of the sights, within state requirements.
The guidance and supervision became of little interest after time elapsed, as well as the county maintenance. Debates began calling for permission to the state and to the county to relinquish the areas under a little found article in legislation dating back to the late 1800's or early 1900's permitting "the sale of said property and those lands under controled guidelines," to acceptable applicants under legal jurisdiction.
Developers pounced on the prospect of this land becoming available, and eagerly began pursuing their efforts under every possible circumstance and avenue.
Valuable timber and a beautiful little river surrounded a large portion of the area and most definitely would have become clear cut acres for high-priced lots, and potential destruction of a safe and clean waterway.
After months and months of hard work by concerned citizens and a few honest polititions, enough protests and petitions reached the eyes and ears of the state capital, and today the entire area is once again under the full supervision of the state governement, and the "little found article" changed to protect all of the "peoples" state land of this park.
All areas of the park are now open once again after much hard work and dedication, where picnics, horseshoes, softball, and a variety of new additions exist due to the labors of concerned citizens and some honest government officials.
So, yes, Knowledge is Power and Truth is Freedom. Some politicians need to be more aware of those wise words because some would sell it down the river if given half a chance.
"Yellowstone" and "The Grand" were once up for grabs if not for the dedication and force of people, and they are our National Lands, not a little unknown to most of us, somewhere down the road from anothers home.
If not for the tireless people in action and for the rare, concerned and occasional honest politician, even though their message may seem unimportant and not very popular, much would be lost.
Martha is great for bringing this most important issue to the awareness of anyone who will support the preservation of this state homestead land, because, even though we know what we believe to be the case, can often go changed, and right under our nose!
Everyone responding so passionately on this issue just shows how much we do care about our public lands.
Keep us informed Martha. You inspire us so much.
Posted by: Becky HK | March 19th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Martha, you might be too humble to say it but can you possibly think of anyone that could perserve this landmark better than you?!
If so, then you should also partner with them. Make it a site that is completely "green" with solar, recycling, etc. Make it with all products "Made in the USA". Schools, colleges groups and organizations could do/have volunteer weeks or days assisting in the work. There are endless ways to accomplish this. A lot of people are soo worried about helping other parts of the world when we (USA) can't/don't take care of what we have here at home.
While you and I might have very different political views, this would be a great way for all sides to get together for a common goal. All the lawmakers in DC need to get a lil' mother earth garden therapy!
We all know that your creative juices are pondering saving this land, so please take the plunge.
~~kindest regards~~
Posted by: Mary Trout | March 19th, 2010 at 7:21 am