the bulk of the property was acquired in the late 1960s from the estate of well known horse breeder walter m. jeffords, sr. and his wife sarah, a niece of samuel d. riddle. the jeffords had acquired the land starting about 1912 in small parcels, until they had over , which was the largest private undeveloped property in the philadelphia area by the 1960s. by 1918 they had built a large mansion, now the park office, around a stone colonial farmhouse. twenty-four other historic properties were located on the grounds, many farmsteads that had retained family ownership since the seventeenth century. in 1976 these properties were registered on the national register of historic places as a national historic district.