Northern Star Dairy Farm: A Case Study of Ecological Change in Trappe, Pennsylvania

Title

Northern Star Dairy Farm: A Case Study of Ecological Change in Trappe, Pennsylvania

Faculty Mentor

Patrick Hurley

Course

ENV-366 Ecological Change in Historical Perspective

Files

Link to Full Text

Link to Story Map

Description

Throughout the last 125 years, anthropogenic ecological change has occurred swiftly and dramatically on a local scale in the United States as well as similarly across the globe. Specifically in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the majority of change has been in a shift from a rain-fed agricultural landscape to one of mixed settlement, in which smaller patches of agriculture are intertwined with suburban tract-housing developments, commercial and industrial complexes, and non-agricultural open spaces, such as parks. Our study, focusing on Trappe, Pennsylvania in Montgomery County, provides a detailed and extensive example of this type of change, as well as provides insight into the social and environmental factors that led to such change. This Story Map utilizes oral histories, archival documents and geospatial data to tell the story of these changes to the local community.

Publication Date

Spring 2019

Keywords

Trappe, Northern Star Dairy Farm, residential development, housing, open space, agriculture, suburbanization, Waterworks Park, Farmland Preservation Program

Disciplines

Agriculture | Environmental Studies | Forest Management | Geographic Information Sciences | Urban Studies and Planning

Northern Star Dairy Farm: A Case Study of Ecological Change in Trappe, Pennsylvania

Share

COinS