Farm a key link between US, Canada

I am writing to express concern about the proposed 260-unit housing development threatening the historic Wright-Locke-Hamilton Farm in Winchester, Mass . ("Crucial votes nearing on farm's fate," Globe NorthWest, Feb. 22).

In addition to being the only working farm in Winchester and the sole place where the town's agricultural history survives intact, the 400-year-old farm is significant in Canadian history.

Philemon Wright set out from this property in the winter of 1799-1800, leading a party of 63 American settlers to establish the first settlement, Wrightstown, in what is now the National Capital Region of Canada.

Wright has been designated as a person of National Historic Significance upon the recommendation of the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. In 1980, the Canadian government erected a plaque on the Winchester farm site to commemorate Wright's substantial contribution to the settlement and development of Canada.

The Heritage Canada Foundation is a national, not-for-profit and nongovernmental organization established in 1973 to promote the preservation of Canada's heritage buildings and historic places. The foundation supports the efforts of the Winchester Historical Society, the Trust for Public Land, and the Winchester Hamilton Farm Interest Group to ensure that development does not destroy the character of this exceptional place, through conservation of the majority of the site, and the preservation of the historic structures and heritage landscape in their agrarian context.

The Wright-Locke-Hamilton farm is both a rare farming landscape in the metro Boston area and an important historical link between the United States and Canada.

Natalie Bull

Executive Director Heritage Canada Foundation