Land trust protects old family farm

The preservation of 53 acres of farm land in one of Rock Hill’s fastest-growing urban sectors is something of a miracle. It is one that resulted from the hard work of the Nation Ford Land Trust and the desire of a 95-year-old woman to honor the wishes of her long-deceased grandfather.

Eloise Miller of Rock Hill signed over the 53 remaining acres of her family farm, placing the land in a conservation easement to be held by the Nation Ford Land Trust. This means the land will remain protected and undeveloped virtually forever.

The land, originally 200 acres, was passed down by Miller’s grandfather, Ned Miller, an emancipated slave, to his two sons, William and John Miller, Eloise’s father. A majority of the property was sold for the site of India Hook elementary School and a housing development, but Miller wanted to ensure that the remaining 53 acres were preserved to honor the wishes of her father and grandfather.

The fact that the land originally was bought by an emancipated slave in the South soon after the end of the Civil War is another part of this miracle. With the antagonism toward former slaves during Reconstruction, it is amazing that the transaction ever occurred and that the Millers retained the land rights all these years.

Murray B. White Jr., previous chairman of the Nation Ford Land Trust, said this easement has been in the works since the early 1990s. He said the more important projects often take time to come together.

He noted the fact that the land is in one of the fastest developing parts of the city.

“But we know now that 50 years from now, a hundred years, two hundred years, there’s still going to be 50 acres of farmland that a freed slave bought at the end of the Civil War. That’s amazing to me,” he said.

The Nation Ford Land Trust has proven to be one of the most reliable and effective means of protecting rural farmland and other largely untouched land from being swallowed up by development. In this and many other cases, the land trust partnered with the South Carolina Conservation Bank, which used public money provided by the Legislature to help fund nearly a third of the easement value, and the York County Forever Commission, a county group committed to protecting land.

This is just one of many projects undertaken by the land trust. In December Carolina Thread Trail leaders awarded $150,000 to the land trust to build about two miles of natural surface trail along the Catawba River. The path will provide access to Thread Trail at Riverwalk, and will be part of a larger, 140-mile connection from Statesville, N.C., to Great Falls.

Finding the money – and the landowners – willing to set aside land for green space always will be a challenge. In this case, however, we salute the dedication of the land trust and, especially, Eloise Miller for persevering in the effort both to preserve the land and to honor the ancestors who made this dream possible.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Land trust protects old family farm."