The fight for Claude Moore Colonial Farm got ugly at times. Ever since it was announced that the popular McLean historical farm was at risk of shutting down in May 2018, the National Park Service and the Friends of Claude Moore argued over how the farm had operated in years past and the feasibility of the terms the NPS was seeking to implement at the farm. Eventually, it all culminated in the park officially closing on Dec. 21.
As part of the living farm presentation that made the site so popular were rare heritage breeds of pigs, geese, cows and other animals. They, like much of the other property of the Friends of Claude Moore, had to be off the park property within a day of the Dec. 21 closing. But where were they to go?
Fortunately, the answer was pretty simple. They would go home.
“What they’re doing is rejoining the population from which they came,” explains Anna Eberly.
Eberly, who served as Claude Moore’s managing director and had worked for and volunteered with the organization since its founding over four decades ago, has been the caretaker for the animals at the Claude Moore site since 1984.
A longtime farm owner in Loudoun County, Eberly bred and housed the rare breeds at her facilities, including the pigs, geese, chickens and turkeys, and then would move some to reside primarily at Claude Moore. She also brought in sheep from her farm for special events at the living museum and provided the feed for the animals, hauling it from Loudoun to McLean.
While Eberly oversaw the care for the animals at Claude Moore, there were inherit challenges with the property. “The farm is a very small piece of property,” Eberly says. “We have virtually no pasture.” Claude Moore was only able to provide two acres of pasture for the animals, according to Eberly. There were also some challenges in dealing with the stray dog population in McLean. Eberly says that eight of the Cotton Patch geese were killed by stray dogs at the farm over the years.
The facilities at Eberly’s farm help eliminate those problems. “There is a lot of land, there is a pasture for them to be on, which is much healthier for animals … more exercise, much healthier environment for them.” Eberly says that she intends to continue to breed the animals as well, selling them to other people or groups that are interested in raising rare breeds.
In addition to the rare animals that are in Eberly’s care, Claude Moore Colonial Farm also had barn cats on its property. In email correspondence with Northern Virginia Magazine, Claude Moore said that all of its barn cats were given to loving homes.
“For some reason people [thought] the animals [were] going to be left on the street corner,” says Eberly. “They’re going to the same place they’ve always gone since 1984. So that should put people’s mind at rest.”
