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Folks, it is time for a meeting to get all of the issues on the table relating to the proposed expansion of Greenvale Vineyards, and the issues at Glen Ridge Farm.(The Alpaca Farm) Please try to attend. October 15th 7:00 p.m.
If you would like more info. please email Conniharding@aol.com
Here’s a letter from a local Portsmouth resident which is relevant to the issue at the Alpaca farm:
As a student of Portsmouth history in general and the Glen area history in particular, I would like to share some of what I learned about the Glen Ridge Farm area. I attended the June session of the planning board and listened to arguments proposing a road running through the property to facilitate a new housing development. I understand the practical arguments for an ideal road running along the shore. I know that this road is part of the goals of the town plan. However, I hope you will consider the historical significance of the area and support other ideas that preserve Glen Ridge Farm. Portsmouth farm heritage has been strong from the roots of settlement and as a community we should be preserving farms and historic buildings and landscapes while we still have them.
The land in and around Glen Ridge Farm has a history that reflects the history of our town. It was part of an original land grant given to William Brenton and then sold to members of the Cook family who served in town offices from the 1640’s on. It was an area that served as a ferry landing for the Fogland Ferry to Tiverton. The land went through a number of Yankee farm families including that of Captain John Stanton until H.A.C. Taylor bought the land in the 1880’s. Taylor was a New York businessman who established Glen Farm to be a model farm dedicated to raising the best livestock. His son Moses Taylor added the stone horse barns you see at Glen Ridge Farm today. The horse barns originally housed the Percheron horses that the Taylors bred, but also were home to the Taylors’ own riding horses. The 1925 barn structures were added to an already existing frame barn structure that is very old and maybe one of the oldest barns in our area. Another building in the compound served as a garage for the Taylor cars and as the headquarters for the Glen Farm Fire Truck (which served at Prudence Island and is being restored today.)
Sincerely yours,
Gloria Schmidt
