Community Research Uncovers History
In 2022, CRLC joined Friends of Bandy Field as co-holders of the conservation easement protecting Bandy Field Nature Park to enhance the preservation of natural and historic resources identified on the property. The property was first protected by a conservation easement by the Friends in 2014.
Despite references in the original deed to the home sites of African American families who lived on the property post-Civil War, the location of these residences had not been identified until recently. Additionally, the Sons & Daughters Of Ham Cemetery where many of those families are buried was noted in the original deed though it is in fact a separate 1-acre parcel adjacent to Bandy Field.
Thanks to the research of community volunteers into a 1921 property map and the help of descendants of the families who once lived there, CRLC identified the location of these homesites. Now that Ordinance No. 2022-277 has been adopted by City Council, these home sites will be afforded protection as historic resources within the conservation easement.
