In August 2003, after nearly ten years of effort, the Southampton Township Committee announced that an agreement was reached to preserve the 220 acres of farmland lying immediately southwest of Historic Vincentown Village. The purchase of what is commonly called the Good Farm was soon after finalized at a cost of $4M.  A significant portion of the price will be offset by grants from Burlington County and from the New Jersey’s Green Acres Program.

The housing developer who held the property had planned to build 400 homes on the site.  The purchase averts the significant changes this level of rapid development would have had on our community and the negative impact the development would have had on the Vincentown Historic District.

One of the most unique characteristics of Vincentown Village is that it retains its historic rural context and setting. The challenge in preserving the village involves not only preservation of the buildings and the community that it houses but also in retaining its rural surroundings. In the 1983 Vincentown Historic Preservation Study, development of the land to the southwest was identified as a major threat to the integrity of the district. Many steps have been taken by Southampton Township and Burlington County and residents themselves to protect the rural environment of the township.  The purchase of the Good Farm is key in the preservation of Vincentown Village.

With the earlier action of Coles Roberts to place his family farm “Jersey Jerry’s”--on Church Road near the entrance to the township--into Farmland Preservation, the purchase of the Good Farm by the Township now leaves only one significant unprotected parcel of open space on the Church Road entrance to the township and Vincentown Village. The purchase also offers significant protection for the rural character of the Red Lion Road entrance to the Village.

T.D.