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Volume 30, No. 203 For more information, contact Bobby Jacobs, Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, 302/739-5314, or Kathleen Jamison, DNREC Office of Information and Education 302/739-4506. State Land Acquisition Will Preserve Historic Dickinson Plantation SettingThe Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs is the new owner of one of the most significant acquisitions in the 10-year history of Delaware's Open Space Council - 420 acres of marsh and farmland on the St. Jones River that were part of the original John Dickinson Plantation. The settlement on April 14 for almost 325 acres and in July 1997 for 95.4 acres complete the final phase of acquisition of available lands adjacent to the National Historic Landmark. The purchases were approved by the Open Space Council and funded by the state's 21st Century Fund. The Division of Parks and Recreation's Land Preservation Office negotiated both deals. "We have made a historic investment by acquiring these lands," said Daniel R. Griffith, director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. "They preserve the setting of the childhood home of John Dickinson, the 'Penman of the American Revolution,' and a framer and signer of the U.S. Constitution. They also will safeguard wildlife habitats, help protect the water quality of the St. Jones Estuary, and increase opportunities for recreation." The most recent acquisition is the 324 acres purchased for $839,000 from the Charles H. West Farms, Inc. (Stanley C. West, president) on the south side of Kitts Hummock Road adjacent to the Dickinson Plantation. The property includes 185 acres of tillable land, 46.873 acres of woodland, and 92 acres of marshland. A five-year lease has been signed that allowed West Farms to continue farming - the historic use of the property. The Division of Historical and Cultural affairs acquired the 95.4 acres of upland, marsh and woodland from Charles B. Conner Jr. of Dover in 1997, another major acquisition to protect the core holdings of the Dickinson Plantation. The state paid $250,000 for that property through the Delaware Land Protection Act. The West and Conner properties are also designed as priority acquisitions in the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Plan for their importance to the St. Jones estuarine ecosystem. DNREC's St. Jones Center for Estuarine Research was opened on an adjacent property in 1999.
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