Land rich in history

The Fair Hill Training Center finds its roots in a member of the affluent duPont family.

Nine years after duPont died, his estate sold the Maryland portion of the sprawling preserve to the state for $6.2 million and the Pennsylvania land to a private owner. For nearly 15 years, the Maryland acreage was mostly closed to the public, but with state funding and volunteer help, trails were built and continue to be maintained and buildings refurbished.

Today, the state land is used for a range of activities, including mountain biking, equestrian trail riding, carriage drives, hiking, bird watching, trout fishing, limited deer hunting, Boy Scout and Girl Scout camping and even still the occasional fox chase, according to State Ranger Lt. Wayne Suydam. Facilities at the park are sites for the Scottish Games, the eight-day Cecil County Fair, the Memorial Day steeplechase and flat races, three-day equestrian eventing and even bull roasts and wedding receptions.

It's difficult to say what Willie duPont would make of thousands of people routinely visiting his old property, considering his own children needed appointments to visit, according to Skinner. But if alive, the millionaire's appetite for land might still be driving him.

Asked when duPont stopped assembling property for Fair Hill, Skinner said, "The last check he ever wrote was for the Bacchus farm on Route 213." [e-mail]