GAMBIER — You hear the word heartbreak a lot when people talk about the upcoming auction of the Mescher Farm in Harrison Township. At 2 p.m. on Saturday, Curt Yoder of Kaufman Realty and Auctions will conduct a sale of the lovely 247-acre farm located along Ohio 229 at 22859 New Castle Road. It will be auctioned in six parcels or combinations of parcels ranging from eight to 94 acres. Two of the parcels are targeted for new single-family dwellings, and a third includes the five-bedroom Mescher family home. The property has tillable acreage, many mature trees, a creek and three-acre pond, and more than half-a-mile of road frontage. Oil and gas drilling rights will be sold separately.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
When they sold the property in June, the Mescher family said it was only with assurances from the buyers that it would not be broken up. But barring a last-minute reprieve, that’s exactly what will happen Saturday as it becomes another family-farm casualty of “progress.” The Mescher family is heartbroken and a little angry, and theirs is a cautionary tale for anyone hoping to protect family lands for posterity.
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