To The Editor:
I have a deep concern about the condition of an old home known as The Pines located on East Baltimore Pike where it joins US 1. This historic building was a prominent station on the Underground Railroad in the 1850s. Many years later it was the birthplace of my grandfather, Richard Morton Pennock.
The property on which The Pines sits was bought around 2007 by a group that erected a Fairfield Inn on the property not far from the house. It is my understanding from Mary Larkin Dugan, the late President of the Kennett Underground Railroad Center, that a condition of the sale was that the new owners preserve The Pines and keep it in good condition.
Kennett Square is a lovely place with many fine attributes. The town’s history is rich with the work of Abolitionist Quakers. One of
the great attractions of Kennett Square is that it was a principal branch of the Underground Railroad. Allowing an historic treasure to
be reclaimed by the elements because of a lack of basic care is a criminal breach of responsibility on the part of the property owners
and of the town administration.
I have seen firsthand the broken windows and holes in the roof that allow into the home’s interior the rains that are decaying its wood
structure. Losing even one of the area’s many stations lessens the attractiveness of the area to the many tourists and researchers who
come to see where this history was made.
It is time to insist that the property owners and town officials act responsibly to save part of our history.
Dick Pennock
Rohnert Park, California
