As one drives south on Canal Street, rounds the corner, and enters Guilford, perhaps it's easy to take for granted the change from the commercial development in Brattleboro to the pastoral scene in Algiers Village, but if it weren't for the extraordinary efforts of a group of our residents more than 20 years ago, it could be a very different scene.
In 2002, when the 24-acre piece of land at the entrance of Guilford on Route 5 - the gateway to our town - went up for sale and was in danger of being commercially developed, a group of concerned citizens formed Guilford Preservation Inc. With the Vermont Land Trust as an active partner, GPI raised $182,500 to purchase the parcel.
GPI immediately conveyed a conservation easement to the Vermont Land Trust on the parcel, thus ensuring its conservation in perpetuity, with a 5.5-acre exception for future development of affordable housing (later reduced to 3.5 acres to prevent intrusion into wetlands).
The 8-acre meadow along the highway will forever be maintained as pasture and agriculture.