What You Can Do
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11 Most Endangered
Camp Security
Year Listed: 2005
Location: York , Pennsylvania
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
Camp Security Aerial, York County, Pennsylvania. Camp Security was on the 2005 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Credit: Patrick McIntyre
Significance
Only a handful of prisoner-of-war camps were established during the Revolutionary War, and today Camp Security is the only one of these sites that remains largely untouched. Between 1781 and the end of the war in 1783, more than 1,500 captured British soldiers and their families were confined at Camp Security, which included both a prison stockade and a "village" of log huts. Since the area has remained mostly undisturbed for more than two centuries, extensive archaeological evidence of the camp and the life of its occupants almost certainly rests beneath the surface of the ground. Scientific exploration of the site could yield a wealth of information available nowhere else-but this exciting opportunity will be lost if a developer proceeds with his plan to build a residential subdivision on the property. Since the developer has already obtained most of the required permits, construction-and the accompanying destruction of fragile archaeological remains-could begin soon. Unless someone steps in to acquire the property and protect it, suburban houses will soon sprout on the land where scores of Redcoats languished in captivity during America's struggle for independence.
Updates
In February 2009, owner and developer Tim Pasch held a public meeting to outline plans for development of a 400-home community he calls “The Plantation.” According to Pasch, development would preserve 62 acres including woodlands and approximately 31 acres believed to be part of
Camp Security remains threatened as the owner and developer continues resisting any discussions about saving the site through sensitive development or purchase.
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