Thanks to a major commitment by the state's Land and Community Heritage Investment program (LCHIP), a purchase and sale agreement has been signed that will save the 141-acre Daniel Webster Farm in Franklin. LCHIP will contribute $750,000 to anchor an effort to protect the farm as a cultural and natural resource and prevent it from being developed.  The Trust for Public Land secured the agreement following work by an ad-hoc group to oppose residential development on the site and by the the Webster Farm Preservation Association to purchase the property from the owner, P.D. Associates.

The Trust for Public Land and the Webster Farm Preservation Association are working in partnership with LCHIP to preserve the land and buildings. A reuse study led by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance and the Franklin Historical Society is underway to help refine stabilization and revitalization strategies for this complex site.

"Few New Hampshire properties possess deeper history or greater cultural, archaeological and ecological value than the 141-acre Webster Farm," said New Hampshire's State Architectural Historian James Garvin. The farm was the family home and retreat of Daniel Webster, one of the nation's greatest 19^th century orators, political figures and statesmen. The National Trust for Historic Preservation listed it in June as one of the "Eleven Most Endangered Historic Sites in the United States." . 

Photo: Leigh Webb

The farm holds some of the strongest connections to famous statesman and dynamic orator Daniel Webster of any property in the United States. Webster acquired full title to the New Hampshire farm, formerly his father's home, upon his brother's death in 1829. Webster used the property as a retreat, a model stock farm, and a place to entertain political leaders, close friends and family until his own death in 1852. In the summer of 1848, Webster wrote to his son, Fletcher, "This is the most beautiful place on this earth." The National Park Service recognized the significance of the Webster family home by listing it as a National Historic Landmark in 1974, one of just 22 in the state.

Webster Family Home. Photo: Leigh Webb

The ongoing deterioration of the buildings on Webster Farm, the challenging level of resources needed to revitalize and conserve this property, and the property's uncertain future give it its threatened status, according to Leigh Webb, President of the Franklin Historical Society and the property's nominator to the National Trust.

Daniel Webster portrait. Courtesy NH Historical Society

Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was a towering figure in American politics and statesmanship during the first half of the nineteenth century, attaining fame as one of the greatest legal scholars and orators of his period.

After 1871, as the site of the New Hampshire Orphans' Home, one of the first rural orphanages in the United States, the property became a landmark in American philanthropy. The Webster Farm continued its social role after 1960 when new owners, the Sisters of the Holy Cross, used the buildings for teacher training.

The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance is the statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic buildings, communities and landscapes through leadership, education and advocacy. Helping advance local preservation projects, and promoting funding for the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, barn preservation, and the use of easements are its current priorities. For more information, contact the Alliance at (603) 224-2281.