You underestimate the Zionists, but it is all a stupid chess game. This is what I was talking about. They did the same to a friends farm in Amherst County Virginia. He was going to start killing county supervisors until we talked him out of it.
City Gov to Seize 175-Year-Old Farm by Eminent Domain, Replace with Affordable Housing
Family fights township attempts to replace historic farm with government project
Chris Bennett
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June 11, 2025 06:53 AM
In the bull’s-eye of development, Andy Henry’s family farm has survived for 175 years. “All the other farms disappeared,” he says. “We did not. We will not.”
(Photo by Google Earth)
For three decades, Andy Henry has declined $20-30 million offers for his 21-acre, 175-year-old farm. Ironically, local government is using his perseverance to take the entire property via eminent domain and replace pasture with affordable housing.
Grass for concrete? Legacy surrendered? No deal, Henry says. Period. Full stop.
On South River Road, in Middlesex County, N.J., warehouses and industrial buildings have replaced the once abundant farms of yesteryear—except a lone holdout.
“My family sacrificed on this land for 175 years,” Henry adds. “All the other farms disappeared. We did not. We will not.”
Sell, or Else
In 1850, Joseph McGill—Andy Henry’s maternal great-grandfather—bought 21 acres of farmland in Cranbury, tucked almost dead-center between New York City and Philadelphia.
McGill broke ground and began growing crops immediately, alongside construction of a farmhouse. In 1879, the home burned. McGill rebuilt in 1880. One crisis of many endured.
“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.”
Henry, alongside his brother, Christopher, grew up on the family farm and watched the surrounding landscape dramatically change form. In 1952, the New Jersey Turnpike was laid down a stone’s throw from their property, and in 1972, an adjacent Turnpike exit was constructed, opening the floodgates on development.
In rapid succession, domino-style, the surrounding farms were sold. Warehouses and distributorships birthed metal and concrete; land values skyrocketed; and the industrial world ringed the Henry operation. Through it all, the family’s 21 acres remained intact as a working farm.
The Henry family’s rebuilt home in the 1880s. “The generations before us had to fight to save this farm,” Henry says. “They sacrificed. So will I and my brother.”
(Photo courtesy of Henry family)
In 2012, Henry (in tandem with Christopher) fully inherited the property. The siblings invested $200,000 in upkeep on the farm—all while buyout offers ballooned to $20-30 million.
“Didn’t matter how much money we were offered,” Henry says. “We saved the farm no matter what. We turned down all the offers to preserve the legacy for our family, city, and even state.”
Henry currently resides in New Mexico, but makes frequent returns to his family home.
“Our farm in 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.”
Cranbury Township Committee also has a plan: Cover Henry’s farm with housing units.
On April 24, 2025, Henry’s mailbox clinked with an official letter of notice from the Committee, tagging his farm as an affordable housing site. “It was incredibly stunning,” he says. “The letter said if I didn’t agree on a price—they’d take my land by eminent domain.”
Sell, or else.
Standing on Principle
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,” Duggan contends. “This is not a proper, reasonable use of eminent domain. No way.”
“I doubt the township sees the irony, but they can only try to take it by eminent domain because we saved it from development offers in the first place,” Henry says.
(Photo courtesy of Henry family)
“Andy Henry could sell out for tens of millions of dollars to developers and walk away. It’s mind-boggling in this day and age to think you have someone genuinely standing on principle, but that’s who Andy Henry is, and that’s how much he wants his 175-year-old farm protected. He’s preserving history at no cost to the public.”
“We live in a heavily populated state with family farms lost at a fast and steady rate, and now someone wants to remove another, even though this special one still produces livestock and hay, with 21 acres and a historic home,” Duggan continues. “Literally, there is an architect from upstate New York scheduled to visit the house and look at the porch because he wants to be accurate in one of his rebuilds. That speaks to the amazing historic condition of Andy’s place, and to think the city government chooses to erase it defies common sense.”
What is the public’s reaction to the Committee’s eminent domain grab? “I can’t find anyone who supports the township’s action, on two levels,” Duggan notes. “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.”
Per New Jersey law, Cranbury must build 265 affordable housing units over the next decade. “We support affordable housing,” Duggan says, “but not dropped in the middle of a bunch of warehouses. The whole thing lacks common sense.”
(Cranbury Township Committee has not revealed what type of affordable housing is slated to replace the Henry farm. The Committee did not respond to Farm Journal interview requests.)
Echoing Duggan, Henry says public support is
overwhelmingly positive. “I spoke at a council meeting in opposition to what they were doing, and the whole town has gotten behind me. We have a long history here in Cranbury and love this place and the people.”
175-Year Legacy
Legally, what happens next?
Henry will file a complaint to challenge the township in court. Ultimately, if the township proceeds, Henry will challenge eminent domain at every step, according to Duggan. “There are other places to build,” Duggan emphasizes. “Why take a 175-year-old farm?”
Unbowed, Henry insists he will fight to save his legacy. “I never dreamed the township would try to take our farm. I doubt the township sees the irony, but they can only try to take it by eminent domain because we saved it from development offers in the first place.”
“The generations before us had to fight to save this farm,” Henry concludes. “They sacrificed. So will I and my brother.”