Town and Country Newspaper

News Article

It’s Not Too Late

Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2012-06-07

A note passed by the editor’s desk this week announcing a dedication ceremony to be held on June 24 honoring veterans of the Revolutionary War who rest in the oldest cemetery of the New Goshenhoppen Church in Upper Hanover Twp.

The 11:30 a.m. tribute is being sponsored by the Gov. Joseph Hiester Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. In addition to his Revolutionary War service, Joseph was a member of the convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States and was a member of Congress from 1797 to 1807 and 1815 to 1821. He also served as Governor of Pa. in 1819. He was the grandson of John Hiester, one of four historically noted sons born at the Hiester family homestead in Upper Salford Township.

The homestead contains some 80 acres of beautiful woodland on both sides of Sumneytown Pike as you climb the hill to leave Marlborough Township and enter Upper Salford Township. The property is also the site of the confluence of the Unami and Ridge Valley creeks, Montgomery County’s only high-quality streams.

A couple of months ago we thought the preservation of the woodland was a sure thing and that the preservation of the 1757 home was on the front burner. Now, through the efforts of the Montgomery County Land’s Trust (MCLT), Upper Salford Township officials and residents along with others, the structure is close to being saved.

However, the land surrounding it is now in danger of being lost. Some $500,000-plus in Montgomery County funding, earmarked for open space projects that didn’t materialize in 2011 and hoped to be transferred to the Rogers-Hiester project has not been approved by the County Commissioners. Perhaps they want to hold onto the money for other open space projects in the county, but we challenge them to find one that comes close to having all of the critical and desirable reasons to preserve it like the Rogers-Hiester property.

Without the county’s open space funds, other “matching amounts” from other government entities will fall and we may end up with saving a historically and architecturally significant house surrounded by high-end homes near the banks of the pristine Ridge Valley Creek. The entire property is a virtual time machine just waiting to be opened to reveal a past that could impact the future.

Time is running out and it is important that anyone who wants to preserve the Rogers-Hiester property email the Montgomery County Commissioners at: Joshua Shapiro - jshapiro@montcopa.org, Leslie Richards - lrichards@montcopa.org and Bruce Castor - bcastor@montcopa.org.

Or contact them by mail at: One Montgomery Plaza, Suite 800, P.O. Box 311, Norristown, PA 19404-0311

The MCLT has written that: Not only does the Rogers property lie within the above-identified County conservation areas. The parcel also features conservation merits that meet Federal (Highlands Conservation Act), State (PA DCNR “Conservation Landscape Initiative” and “Smart Conservation”), Regional (Schuylkill Highlands Greenway), municipal (Upper Salford and Marlborough Townships’ Open Space Plans), and Business (Perkiomen Valley Chamber of Commerce “Green Up Plan”) policy documents.

Add to that a private foundation willing to create a new national model for preserving the remarkable historic structure and you have a storybook conservation project!

To find out more, visit the MCLT website at www.mclt.org

As we wrote before, it is a rare conservation opportunity. Contact the commissioners now – before it’s too late, and tell them you support preserving the Rogers-Hiester property. Make the voices of the people of Upper Montgomery County be heard.

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