View across the planned park (looking south from 1st Avenue).
The City of Charles Town recently acquired 2.9 acres of vacant land located on the north side of the downtown business district. The property was purchased from American Public University Systems (APUS) and consists of 6 parcels along North George Street between 1st Avenue and the CSX tracks, plus 3 parcels along North Samuel Street between 1st Avenue and Bell Place (see map below).
Charles Town has said it intends to develop the property as a park. According to City Manager John Nissell, the city’s goal is to “master plan this space for public gathering. We are wed to keeping this as open space. Moving forward we will need to secure funds to hire a firm to begin the master plan which would include public meetings, conducting a charette of some sort and doing some short- and long-term programming for the space.” The area north of the CSX tracks has become known as the “Depot District” and Nissell says he expects the name will continue to be used for the future park as well.
The property is currently vacant land (see photo above). Prior to the APUS ownership, the parcels along Samuel Street were the site of the Charles Town Mining, Manufacturing & Improvement Company and the Miley coal yard. APUS acquired these properties, which are across the street from the “clock” building,” in 2012 and spent several years removing the vacant structures and remediating the environmental contamination from the prior industrial uses. During a City Council meeting in 2023, a company executive stated that the company had invested $3.9 million in the cleanup effort.
Charles Town began discussions with APUS about acquiring these properties in February 2022, APUS and the city came to an agreement on a $500,000 purchase price in December 2023 according to city officials. The City Council unanimously approved the purchase of the property during its February 18 meeting and the final settlement on the property took place on February 21. There were no additional considerations included in the agreement between Charles Town and APUS other than the cash purchase price according to city officials.
Published 2025 Mar 3; updated 2025 Mar 4
By Steve Pearson