Beyond the Refernda: Maintaining Open Space Has Been a Challenge in the Township

FARMS AND OPEN SPACE (with year in which property was preserved or acquired or developed)

The first formal effort to preserve open space was organized in 1958 (maybe before?) by the Upper Dublin Citizens for Open Space chaired by Francis Ballard, then a resident of Ft. Washington.

Shafer, Shapp Back Parks for Upper Dublin, Philadelphia Inquirer, (Nov. 3, 1966)

Open Space and Environmental Resource Protection Plan: Pathways to Connect Us Yesterday and Today with Tomorrow (Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation 2005) lists the following farms as historic:

As witPaxson Farm/Spring Farm/Friendly Acres at 1704 Dreshertown Road,

Old Maple Farm at 875 Welsh Road,

Little Linden Farms at 1230 Cedar Road,

Lindenwold Farms at 1030 Farm Lane,

Samuel Mann Farm at 600 North Limekiln, and

Norwood Farm at 970 North Limekiln.

Nelson Farm (9-acre site west of Dresher Triangle below Limekiln Pike)

See Report to Upper Dublin Commissioners re: Dresher Triangle, ULI (Urban Land Institute) Philadelphia-TAP (Technical Assistance Program), April 22, 2008, at p. 2 (“Your current situation”), noting study authored by Montgomery County Planning Commission, Dresher Triangle Study (1999), concerning property owned by BET as of 2008. The property was eventually developed by BET as Dresher Commons, including townhouses on Daniel Dr. and adjoining pharmacy and a small gathering of casual food restaurants.

s & Recreation 2005

Bub Farm

UDJAA Eyes the Bub Farm (Yampy, July 14, 2005)

“Field of Dreams”-1995

Bond issue to finance acquisition of “Field of Dreams” approved in spring 1993 for “Field of Dreams”

Committee for “Field of Dreams” chaired by Bob Danaher

Lisa E. Anderson, Upper Dublin Groups Make It a Team Effort for Ball Fields Of Their Dreams, Phila. Inquirer (May 30, 1993)

Wendy Greenbaum, Upper Dublin School Board to Cover Project’s Added Costs, Phila. Inquirer (Aug. 19, 1993), at MC2

Justin Heinze, Upper Dublin Residents Rally to Save ‘Field of Dreams,’ PATCH (Oct. 9, 2018)

Four Mills Preserve, 12 Morris Road, acquired by the National Lands Trust in 1967 and transferred to the Wissahickon Watershed Association in 1994 (located in the narrowest portion of Upper Dublin between Whitemarsh and the Borough of Ambler, with the property extending into Ambler), providing the headquarters for the Association as well as a trail link for the Wissahickon Valley Trail.

Aidenn Lair Park-1963

Aidenn Lair Woods

Bopegan Farm-1252 Ft. Washington Ave-before 1920

Loch Alsh Reservoir-1915

Ambler Water Co. Wells Nos. 2, 6, 7 and 8 adjacent to it (In 2023 Rep. Dean sought funding for PFAS removal technology at Wall No. 2 to enable it to become non-detectable) Kevin Tierney, PFAS/PFOS treatment facility on agenda of Upper Dublin’s zoning hearing board, Around Ambler (June 26, 2022).

One unusual aspect of the reservoir property was the land adjacent to the site that continued to be owned by Ambler. Sandra Long, Subdivision pf reservoir property approved, Phila. Inquirer, De. 6, 1984, at 8-H (noting sale of that property for construction of home with Ambler to pay for road link.

Ending public water contamination is not a complete response to exposure for Upper Dublin residents served by private wells. In 2000 1,518 of Upper Dublin’s then population used private wells. Estimated Population Using Public Water and Private Wells, Figure 2, Water Resources Plan: Shaping Our Future: A Comprehensive Plan for Montgomery County (2005); Kyle Bagenstone, Private well owners struggle with contamination, Reporter, Feb. 24, 2017 (interview with the Riskos, owners of large tract on Twining Road using a private well, noting that existing testing regime for contamination does not include well water used by families in Upper Dublin); Kyle Bagenstone, Upper Dublin well shut down due to PFAS contamination, phillyburbs.com, Aug. 1, 2018 (North Hills water pumping station providing water to the southeast quadrant of Upper Dublin with high PFAS content had been shut down by Aqua).

On August 2, 2018, a public meeting was held on PFAS issues at the Antioch Baptist Church. Notes of that meeting published by Abington Township Commissioner Michael Thompson contained an attendee’s comment (at unnumbered page 3) that the PFAS reading in North Hills was 40 and Oreland’s reading was 4.4, with North Hills’ reading far above the standards advocated by health officials at the time. The most recent studies confirm the pervasiveness of PFAS in persons using contaminated wells.⁹¹

Although in 2024 the federal government had proposed regulations to set strict limits on PFAS exposures, in 2025 the federal position has been reaffirmed.⁹² However, the impact of Upper Dublin’ residents’ PFAS exposure, including the residues from the Willow Naval Air Station if and when it is redeveloped, is yet to be studied.

Cherry Lane Farm (bought by School District in 1997 for Maple Glen Elementary and School District Administration Building)

Dillon Road Woodlands—needs date

Dublin Chase Open Space—needs date

Dublin Hunt Open Space—needs date

Edwards Fields, 1582 Ft Washington, and Jean McInaw Memorial Field, 1581 Ft Washington

Evelyn Wright Park-

Luther Klosterman Park-1970

This Upper Dublin park is named for a local resident. Klosterman lived across the street, at 400 Madison. Klosterman’s background in Upper Dublin politics (as chairman of Upper Dublin GOP), Montgomery County governmental employment, World War I military service and his subsequent devotion to American Legion activities on both local and national levels for decades was summarized in remarks submitted by US Rep Lawrence Coughlin to the Congressional Record, April 13, 1970, at p. 11501, noting that Klosterman’s years of service to veterans was about to be honored.

Mondauk Commons-1983

Mondauk Manor—date—it was considered as location for library

North Hills Community Center-1977

Pine Run, 1701 Jarrettown (Jarrettown Rd. was originally Jarrett Road and known as Jarrettown-Willow Grove Rd.?

The Three Historical Properties at Camp Hill developed by the Emlen and Van Rensselaer Families

Camp Hill Hall. WEC International USA, Miracles Camp Hill. Brian Stewart, The Van Rensselaer Family, Drexel University Libraries, Nov. 8, 2011 (once called the “Buckingham Palace of Philadelphia”); Exterior of Camp Hill Hall, Fort Washington, Aug. 11, 1945, George McDowell, Phila. Evening Bulletin Photographs, Temple Digital Collection.

Piszek Tract, including the Emlen House and the Hawkswell, later the site of the Copernicus Society. Hawkswell, built in 1905, The Challenge, Springfield Township Historical Society (March 2015 issue) (describing presentation to be given by STHS Archive Volunteer, Ed Zwicker III, March 5, 2015); Gary Miles, Helen Piszek Nelson, philanthropist, advocate, and business leader dies at 68, Obituaries, Phila. Inquirer, Oct. 28, 2021. Copernicus House in Fort Washington will be coming down, Times Herald, Nov. 10, 2014; Letter to the Editor, Lamenting the fate of the Copernicus House, The Reporter, Dec. 7, 2014; Christopher J. Dean, Development trumps preservation of history, The Intelligencer, Dec. 6, 2014 (“Sadly, in Upper Dublin, the vampires are still in charge of the blood bank.”)

Emlen House: Where George Washington headquartered between November 2 and December 11, 1777. General Orders, 2 November 1777, General Orders, Head-Quarters, White-Marsh [Pa.], November 2nd 1777, Founders Online, National Archives, at n. 1 (noting that the headquarters was the “Emlen House, a family summerhouse built by George Emlen, a Philadelphia Quaker, around 1745 and owned at this time by Emlen Devereux.”). As set forth in the historical sources cited above, the Piszeks preserved Emlen House (and to a lesser extent Hawkswell), until they transferred rights to a developer and to the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association.

In August 1976 Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II, visited Emlen House as guest of the Piszeks, who shared with great pride in Mr. Piszek’s Polish heritage with him. NEEDS CITE

It was ultimately preserved when sold to a developer and then sold to a couple from Lower Merion for their home. Ecological and Historical Treasure Permanently Protected (natlands.org, Sept. 2012)

Montgomery County Press Release:? October 17, 2013:

The County Commissioners are thanked by the Wissahickon Valley Watershed and the Natural Lands Trust for preserving 34 acres in Upper Dublin and Springfield Townships for $50,000. “It was really a collaborative effort, where the county was able to work alongside two local governments. We all pitched in and we were able to preserve open space for everybody,” said Commissioner Leslie Richards.

However, there was substantial dissent with respect to the impact of the adjoining Washington Manor development on two historic properties at that site, the Copernicus House and the Emlen House. Christopher J. Dean (a resident of Cheltenham Township), Letter to the Editor, Development trumps preservation of history, The Intelligencer, Dec. 8, 2014, p. --- (noting that the Copernicus House was raised to enable the 43 home development to occur). (Upper

Rose Bridge Farm & Sanctuary-1537 Dillon, same as 1314 N. Limekiln (Fox Hunt Farm LLC) (focused on goat yoga; present activity?), formerly Mitsch Nursery

Rose Valley Preserve (former York Stock Farm, then Quinby Farmor the Atkinson Farm), also referenced as Braccia Open Space Plan, 1622 E. Butler, acquired from members of the Braccia family-2008 for $5,000,000

Land Concepts Group, Rose Valley Preserve: Land Management Plan (Oct. 2009)

Susquehanna Woods (adjacent to Candlebrook & Southwind)

Camp Hill Estate, 709 Pennsylvania Avenue,

In November 1945 the property, known as Camp Hill Hall, the estate of John R. Fall, was acquired by Major Walter Crossman to become the Camp Hill Military Academy. (Phila. Bulletin, Aug. 1945). That school lasted only a short time, when it was renamed Ft. Washington Military Academy by Major J. Ivan Dufar. That school closed in 1953 or 1954. Samuel J. Rogal, The American Pre-college Military School, A History and Comprehensive Catalog of Institutions (2009). The property was then acquired by several different occupants, notably the Worldwide Evangelical Crusade (WEC) and Fairwold Academy owned by Public Health Management Corp. (at property previously occupied by Wordsworth Academy that stopped its operation in 2016 and filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after deaths of students were reported), Or Hadash synagogue and two children’s care entities, Play & Learn and Montessori Children’s House, reflecting Fall’s requiring that the land be used only for religious and educational purposes.

See also Doug Smithman, Or Hadash-A Brief History of the Building Or Hadash on From Fairwold to Or Hadash on Or Hadash’s website.

This site was within a short walking distance of the Fellwick Station, a long-existing stop between the Oreland and Ft. Washington Stations on the Lansdale line of SEPTA’s commuter rail service, that was closed in 1996.

Franklin Park-1900?

Upper Dublin Community Pool-1964

Meetinghouse Park-date

Sheeleigh Park, Douglass-date

Temple Ambler Sports Fields and Arboretum and Trail-what is it called?-date (public access)

Twining Valley Park-date(s)

Cross-County Trail (from Pennsylvania Avenue at Bethlehem Pike to Welsh Rd. at Twining Rd.) (in process)

1030 Farm Lane (the former Ambler Quarry), sold by Township in 1983?

Veterans Park-1981

OPEN SPACE, PARKLAND

Lea Sitton Stanley, Connecting the dots in Upper Dublin: The Township is near its goal of putting its open spaces within an easy walk for most resident, Phila. Inquirer, July 22, 2007, at p. L03

Twining Valley Park

Burn Brae Day Camp, 1981

Mondauk Common Park, 1983

Mondauk Manor

Henry Lee Willet Park, 1956

Aidenn Lair Park, 1963

Jarrettown open space

John Mauchly Park-1980? John Mauchly, the co-developer of the modern computer, lived in Upper Dublin on Cedar Rd. for many years until his death. In 1951 Pennsylvania created a Civil Defense Council. Mauchly’s archives (maintained at the University of Pennsylvania) evidence his involvement an early 1951 meeting in Upper Dublin concerning civil defense. The minutes maintained by the Township Board of Commissioners for that period do not refer to civil. defense activities. The online list of Township resolutions does not include that period.

In 1964 he was appointed to a six-year term on the township’s Civil Service Commission.

Dublin Meadow open space, 1985, 1990

Washington Manor open space, 2022

Sheeleigh Playground

Supplee open space

Dawesfield open space, 1986

Dublin Hunt open space, 1986

Camp Hill Road Trail

Beth Or tract adjoining E. Butler

Land across E. Butler

Cheston Robbins Park, 1975 (Robbins Park history-role of the Cheston and Robbins families, CITE)

Temple Ambler site-1908

309 E. Butler and Susquehanna

Susquehanna to E. Butler

Veterans Memorial Park (Farm Lane 1981)

Highland Ave. & Farm Lane

Stuart Creek open space

Field of Dreams

Washington Manor open space

Hartranft & Madison

Camp Hill and Highland Athletic Field Campus

Camp Hill Rd open space

Sandy Run open space

Edwards Fields, described variously as having 3 addresses, 1550, 1554 and 1581 Ft. Washington (1997)

1015 Farm-Highland Park, Inc. (Westrum)—next to Ft Washington Swim Club: xxxx, Fort Washington Swim & Tennis Club saved from development, Times Herald (Jan. 11, 2018) (Westrum’s Highland Park development involved in this effort)

1963-Upper Dublin acquires Burn Brae Golf Club; and operates golf course; in 1981 land leased to private management for Twining Valley Golf Club, first by former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, later by Hugh Reilly, renamed Upper Dublin Golf Club & Fitness Center; management contract ended 2021, and now as Twining Valley Park, including outdoor meadows, trails and a dog park, with a planned access from Fitzwatertown School to the park.

INSERT--Paul Leonard quote that Upper Dublin now has second highest percentage of open space of any Montco municipality