Farmers in the States Week 4- Historic Farmers

            Recently, there has been a civil disagreement over a property that farmers were forced to sell.  The land is not only an example of farmer and property importance, but of some other things as well.  The matter concerning the rightful ownership of the land may be recent, but the literal dilemma dates back to the First World War.

            In the times encircling the turbulent years of 1914-1918, the residents of Lackey, Virginia were vacated from their properties as military forces moved into the town to establish a base.  The area was known as “the Reservation” by troops and CIA agents, now the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.  This area was mostly built of farmlands, where a perfect training facility was scouted out.  Later, in World War II the military and federal agents vacated the nearby towns of Magruder and Bigler’s Mill for similar purposes.  The agents promised that there would be a reimbursement of property once the time of crisis had ended.

            Now, years later, the people of “the Reservation” and the “the Farm” (as the areas were called) have still not received their land back.  These stations are now official U.S. Military installations, Magruder and Bigler’s Mill becoming known as Camp Peary.  During World War II, Camp Peary was used as a facility to train Navy Seabees.  Now, Camp Peary has been turned into a wildlife and game preserve, but the families who have been forced from those homes are now seeking to attain the property once more.