by WorldTribune Staff, June 15, 2025 Real World News

The City of Cranberry, New Jersey is set by eminent domain to seize a farm that has been run by one family for 175 years.

Farm owner Andy Henry has for 30 years declined offers in the tens of millions of dollars for his 21-acre farm, AgWeb reported on June 11.

“My family sacrificed on this land for 175 years,” Henry said. “All the other farms disappeared. We did not. We will not.”

Henry’s maternal great-grandfather, Joseph McGill, bought 21 acres of farmland in Cranberry in 1850. The city is between New York City and Philadelphia.

“They survived hardship after hardship,” Henry says. “In 1936, my grandfather died, leaving my grandmother and mother to run the farm. It was struggle after struggle, but they held on to the land, and again survived, leaving something for the next generation.”

Amid construction of the Jersey Turnpike in 1952 and into the 1970s, other farms in Cranberry were sold off and land values skyrocketed.

Through it all, Henry’s 21 acres have remained intact as a working farm, the report noted.

“Our farm is now leased for raising cattle and sheep. The town loves driving by and seeing something besides warehouses. Keeping this legacy intact and passing it to the next generation has been, and is always, our plan,” Henry said.

The family has refused buyout offers of up to $30 million.

“Didn’t matter how much money we were offered,” Henry said. “We saved the farm no matter what. We turned down all the offers to preserve the legacy for our family, city, and even state.”

On April 24, Henry received a letter from Cranbury Township Committee which said it was tagging his farm as an affordable housing site.

“It was incredibly stunning,” he said. “The letter said if I didn’t agree on a price—they’d take my land by eminent domain.”

On May 12, the Committee officially approved a plan to take the Henry family farm.

Timothy Duggan, an eminent domain specialist and attorney representing Henry, says the Committee’s intentions are “misguided and rushed. Government behavior should be the opposite — preserve instead of destroy. This is not a proper, reasonable use of eminent domain. No way.”

“I can’t find anyone who supports the township’s action, on two levels,” Duggan added. “One, everyone loves the Henry farm and appreciates it so much. Two, there are other places to build, and you don’t put up house complexes beside industrial complexes.”

If the township proceeds, Henry will challenge eminent domain at every step, Duggan said: “There are other places to build. Why take a 175-year-old farm?”

BREAKING: Cranberry, NJ to seize a 175 year old family farm to build affordable housing pic.twitter.com/5JPkeomTmP

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 13, 2025

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