Westwood Manor

 

I have written stories about Miss Vogel, an old lady whom I worked for when I was in middle school, and her home: Westwood Manor, built in 1770 by one of Maryland’s signers of the Declaration of Independence for his daughter.  The mansion included fifty acres of prime land with seven acres of mowed lawns (which I mowed), gardens (which I cultivated), and ponds.  So, when I was writing this post, I looked on Google Images for a picture.  Nothing.  It was as if the mansion had not existed.  I opened Google Earth and entered the street address, but I couldn’t find it.  I searched the Harford County Historical Registry and could find no entry for Westwood Manor.  In the years since I left Miss Vogel’s employment (about 1963) the property must have been sold and the mansion razed by the new owner, who valued the land more than the old mansion.  What a shame!  My wife suggested that a fire could have destroyed the mansion.  Not possible, since the walls were solid stone two feet thick.  If the mansion was never listed as a historical structure, no one would have known if it had been bulldozed to make room for a modern house.  It was three stories high with rooms in the gables and a full basement, effectively five stories high.  Westwood Manor stood for 200 years, but now it is gone.  I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 3:3&5, “… a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together …”  There may be a few photos of Westwood Manor somewhere, but I can’t find them.  The stones are pulled down and have been used for fill somewhere on Glenville Rd in Harford County, Maryland.  Westwood Manor is barely a memory.  Hey, you will only be a faint memory in just a few years too.  What are you doing for the good Lord that will last for eternity?  Lay up treasures in heaven while you can.  It would be a good use of your time.