Looking to preserve the community where her father served as mayor for 38 years, Allenhurst Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Amanda Cox led a ceremony Tuesday to unveil a sign designating the Allenhurst Historic District.
The ceremony, held across the street from lifelong Allenhurst residents the Trohas, helped solidify Cox’s and the D.C. Miller Trust Foundation’s work in preserving the community built with help from employees of the Dunlevie Lumber Yard.
“This is my second term in office with the town council … but I say if I don’t do anything else while in office … I don’t think Daddy would be any prouder of me than he would be of me preserving this district as a historic district,” Cox said.
The designation prevents Dunlevie Road from being widened into a highway, keeps certain protected trees from being cut and preserves the remaining original Dunlevie Saw Mill homes from being torn down or destroyed. It also will prevent older mobile homes being replaced by new ones, and any new development would have to fit the vernacular style of the current homes to maintain the historic look and appeal.
It was another small victory for the people who live within the historic district, which runs from the railroad tracks that cross Dunlevie Road southeast to the property line of the Trohas’ residence. Many preservation efforts centered on and started around the home that once belonged to the lumberyard’s treasurer, Herbert Dunlevie. Theodore Vittoria, trustee of the D.C. Miller Trust, worked feverishly in 2007 to purchase the Dunlevie house and honor the wishes of the late Dorothy Miller Bloeser and William Henry Miller, who once owned the home and the 1,200 acres that surround it.
“I would like to start by saying that I learned my history about this area from Mayor Cox, Amanda’s father, who served on our original board dating back about 15 years,” Vittoria said. “After Dorothy died, the D.C. Miller Trust has been fulfilling her expectations of preserving the Miller Pasture property in perpetuity as nature and wildlife preserve.”
SCAD students did the house’s restoration, completing it in 2009 to coincide with Allenhurst’s centennial. Among the attendees at the ceremony were current trust board members Lynn Pace, Andrew Standard and Jan Waters.
“Our purpose is to try and make Miller Pasture something the community can enjoy and also serve as an educational tool for children so they can go out and learn something about Mother Nature,” Vittoria said before turning back to Cox. “We are very proud of what you’ve done, and I think Mayor Cox would be proud as well.”
To read the complete history of Allenhurst and the Dunlevie Lumber Yard pick up the current issue of Liberty Life Magazine.