Daniel Family Support for Saving Crow's Nest
As indicated in this letter, the Daniel family has a long history associated with Crow's Nest. They have also supported the preservation of the peninsula, as made clear in this recent letter from David B. Daniel to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors. (Used by permission of the author.)
Stafford County Board of
Supervisors
Sept. 14, 2005
1300 Courthouse Road
Stafford, Virginia 22554
I am writing this letter to express my support for the preservation of Crow’s nest Peninsula in its current, undeveloped state. I am familiar with the property by the fact that my Grandfather, Thomas Cushing Daniel, was born there in 1857. My father and his brothers built a monument to their ancestors on the site of the old family burial ground there in the 1970s and as a young boy I “helped.” All of my family has returned there over the years to pay our respects, and we recently added a stone inscribed with a brief family history to the monument.
Our family history may only resonate with us, but others may be interested to know that several prominent Virginians were also born and raised there. Among them were Raleigh Travers Daniel, Attorney General of Virginia; John Moncure Daniel III, editor of the Richmond Dispatch, and subject of the recent Biography “Pen of Fire: John Moncure Daniel” by Peter Bridges, and Peter Vivian Daniel, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
In more modern time we have come to appreciate the peninsula’s unique ecology and geology. As you may know, it is the home of many unique and rare species of both plants and animals. It houses a significant heron rookery, and I have personally seen a bald eagle’s nest on the property, while the occupant soared majestically overhead.
I understand a county’s need for growth, and the area’s seemingly insatiable need for new housing, but there simply must be a better place for it than this. As an architect who has hiked the steep ravines and hills of the property, I foresee tremendous and expensive infrastructure, a difficult situation for fire and rescue teams, and tremendous environmental destruction. The development plan is extremely dense and laid out with seemingly little regard to the existing topography, in fact, it looks like it was designed for a flat site. The site’s remoteness from major roads and community hubs make it an inappropriate place to put this many houses.
I hope that all of you will think long and hard about this, and ultimately decide to preserve this unique property. You can build houses most anywhere, but you cannot replace history or unique ecology once they have been destroyed.
Sincerely,