Despite the fact that a former slave quarters and a kitchen building have already been moved from their original sites at what was once the Greenfield Preston Plantation and is now an industrial park, some are holding out hope that those buildings will return to those locations if there is enough public support.
Botetourt County officials have set up a citizen’s advisory group as they plan to build an educational center along U.S. 220 about a half mile away from where the slave buildings once stood. Meanwhile they plan to shave down the hilltop – another source of consternation for some – and erect a 100,000 square foot-plus building at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield in the hopes of attracting a tenant.
Also in the works are negotiations with an automotive parts supplier that could bring hundreds of jobs and construction to the Greenfield Center although County Administrator Gary Larrowe will not confirm who that might be. Larrowe came to the county from Carroll County to take the reins from Kathleen Guzi in January.
Lisa Farmer, vice president of Friends of the Greenfield Preston Plantation (see the Facebook page), watched with others as the slave buildings were put on the back of flatbed trucks and hauled away from their homes for the past 150+ years. “It’s like watching a funeral,” said Farmer, “very depressing. There’s people crying here. It’s a travesty.”
Farmer said the politics in Botetourt County “are just ridiculous” and that the will of the people has been ignored with commerce trumping history in the case of Greenfield. The group raised $40,000 in one day, hoping that the county will use that money to return the slave buildings – perhaps erecting a smaller industrial building next to them.
“There’s just no reason we can’t sit down and hammer something out to be a win-win for both sides. There’s 600 acres – they don’t have to do it all on [that parcel].” Farmer also said the historical commission the county wants to set up with local citizens is just a way to deflect the issue.
Gene Marrano
