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Charlestown Township
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HARB/ Historical Commission met on July 18th. Those members who were present are in bold: Tom Fillippo, Dale Frens, Sheila Klement, Ann Kline, Nancy Long, Rosemary Philips, John Pittock, Fran Rodgers, and Dan Wright. Eric Davison and Sue Marshall were present as guests.
Last fall, Eric Davison had purchased a section of the former Volpi property on Yellow Springs Road.
His section includes the site of the historic Cornog-Supplee home and spring house. The purpose of his visit was to
inform the Commission of his long range plans for the property and to update us of progress made so far.
He intends to restore the house, which was built in 1798, both in exterior and interior aspects and to use the house
as office/apartment space as the main structure from which to operate a landscape business concentrating on the local
area.
As of now, he has cleaned up the invasive vegetation and has opened up a temporary driveway to allow the entrance of
large equipment. On the main structure, plaster was professionally removed to expose the stone masonry. Re-pointing
was carried out and some sand-blasting was done on parts that had been painted. All windows have been replaced and the
roof has to be replaced. He was asked about the general condition of the basement and he replied that it was relatively
clean although there was evidence of some graffiti. Dale surmised that Jim Thompson had removed much debris from the
basement and rest of the property when he did a major initial clean-up. Eric noted that a long wall remains of an original
barn. Since he does intend to keep the property in a model of a farm, he will be building a barn to fit the original
footprint and will restore the springhouse. Dale volunteered to help in the restoration of the property.
Eric showed several photographs of completed work and the Commission was pleased to see those and also with the plans
that Mr. Davison envisions. We will be interested for his updates on the property.
In old business, Rosemary reported that the Board of Supervisors had approved, at their July meeting,
the Certificate of Appropriateness for the Ground Radar Penetrating project at the Township Cemetery requested by the
Charlestown Historical Society. Dr. Sherrod of Kutztown University and some of her students will inspect the cemetery
on October 13th (and possibly additional time) to ascertain where graves might be and especially to look for evidence
of a site of a mass grave and also try to understand the footprint for the original church. This method insures no disturbance
of the ground and the findings will be reported in an educational journal and to CHS and also to the BOS.
Also in old business, Rosemary noted that the Revised Historic Map is in front of the Chester County Planning Commission
and will be distributed to our members as soon as it is approved. There are some corrections and demolished historic
sites will be noted as such.
In new business, progress at Brightside Farm was reported. Dale feels that it could be the proper time
to address the replacement of the roof on the farmhouse That project should include roofing , gutters and downspouts
and cornices. Work in the house is satisfactory although the installation of a downstairs bath must still be resolved.
John Pittock asked if this might also be a time for BOS to speak with the Grange members about purchase by the township.
He said that the building is in need of repairs, that there are very few members and very little funds.
Rosemary asked John for the name of a person that she could refer to the BOS with whom they might make contact.
It was noted that the Epstein property is on the market and although it is not in an open space agreement, it is hoped that it will be sold as a single entity.
Our next meeting is scheduled for September 19th.