YOU TELL US: Does Melrose Farm Belong on the Historic Landmark List?

The Cromwell family, who are descendants of the Cockeys—for whom the town is named—is fighting local associations pushing to put its 160-year-old house on the Historic Landmark List. 

Melrose Farm, located at 29 Ashland Road, is associated with the Cockey family, but Josias Cromwell told that "no one of importance" in the Cockey family ever lived there. 

"Old doesn't mean historic," Lawrence Schmidt, an attorney for the Cromwells told the newspaper. "It has to have some kind of historic significance. That's what the law says, and we don't believe it does."

But local associations such as the Ashland Community Association and the Baltimore County Historical Trust disagree. 

"The county cannot afford to see another one of its first communities become extinct," members of the associations wrote to The Times. "We believe the commemoration of Cockeysville's history should be an everyday occurrence, embodied by the preservation of Melrose."

Melrose Farm also had significance during the Civil War, when 2,500 Union troops camped near the property,  reports. 

Being on the Historic Landmark List would subject any development on Melrose Farm to review by the Baltimore County Landmark Preservation Committee. 

The decision of whether or not the property should be designated as a historic landmark now lies with District 3 Councilman Todd Huff and the County Council.

But, you tell us. Is Melrose Farm historic or just old?