The farm was the boyhood home of businessman John I. Blair, who helped shape the region's future.
The boyhood home of 1800s railroad owner and influential Warren County businessman John I. Blair -- for whom both Blairstown Township and Blair Academy are named -- is going up for auction.
The 42-acre farm near the Beaver Brook in Hope Township, which includes the two-story home, will go out for bid at 11 a.m. Tuesday due to bankruptcy, according to a listing on AuctionAdvisors.com.
The Blairstown Historic Preservation Committee is raising awareness of the auction.
"The historical significance of the home is irreplaceable," the committee said in a news release, adding that it "has great concern that the property could be bought by an individual of group who will not appreciate the historic value of the home and will tear it down."
According to the preservation committee, the property on what is now Route 519 belonged to the Blair family between 1730 and 1740, when Blair's grandfather emigrated from Scotland. Blair worked the farm with his siblings in his youth, and as a teenager fully managed the farm after his father's death, the historians say. He lived there about 15 years before starting his own mercantile business.
The home mostly retains the original shape, with the exception of a closed-in porch built on the front and an addition in the back, the committee said.
The farm and Blair's birthplace in the Foul Rift area of White Township are the only places in which he lived that are left standing, the preservation committee said. The Blair Homestead in Blairstown was torn down in 1979.
Warren County sites in the National Historic Register
According to the auction listing, the property has 19 tillable acres and 22 acres of woods. It was previously used for raising cattle, mulch hay, and tree farming.
Inspections are available at 10:30 a.m. the day of the auction, will which happen on site, the website says.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.