Massachusetts Founding Farms 



Cultivators of Our National Heritage 



Massachusetts is, of course, the cradle of American 

 history. So much of our country's heritage was 

 forged right here, from the Old North Church to Lexi- 

 ngton and Concord where the embattled farmers fired the 

 "Shot Heard 'Round the World." 



We take great pride in our history and perhaps noth- 

 ing in Massachusetts has more history than our farms. 

 The Pilgrims began farming not long after landing at 

 Plymouth Rock in 1620, sowing the seeds for what would 

 become a rich tradition, a tradition that still thrives some 

 360 years later. 



Today, Massachusetts counts more than 6,000 farms 

 and they produce nearly $500 million of food and other 

 products each year. Of that number, 39 working farms 

 have been in the same family for 200 years or more. This 

 is truly a remeu^kable achievement. 



With the encouragement of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, the Massachusetts Department of 

 Food and Agriculture honored these 39 farms in Septem- 

 ber, 1988, as part of the national celebration of the 200th 

 anniversary of the U.S. constitution. Other state depart- 

 ments of agriculture also commemorated bicentennial 

 farms in their states. 



The farms are found across the state, from the seaside 

 communities of the North Shore to the scenic mountains 

 of the Berkshires. They include the grande dame of Mas- 

 sachusetts farms - Appleton Farms in Ipswich (which date 

 to 1638) - to the "baby" of the bunch, 202-year-old 

 Bridgemont Farm in the Hampshire County town of Wes- 

 thampton. 



The 39 farms produce a wide variety of products: milk, 

 vegetables, small fruit, tree fruit, hay, timber, flowers, and 

 20th century innovations Hke cattle embryo transplants. 



But perhaps the most important contribution of these 

 farms is continuity. They represent a way of life estab- 

 hshed long before our country was founded. When a farm 

 is passed on from generation to generation it lends a 

 stability that is all too rare in today's world. At least one 

 of these farms has four generations Uving on the farm. 



Fascinating stories abound in this collection of historic 

 farms. A coin toss decided ownership of the Colchester 

 Farm in Plympton in 1866. the Churchill brothers - 

 Thomas and James - found the farm could not support 

 both their famiUes when they returned from the Civil War. 

 A nip of the coin gave Thomas the farm and sent James 

 and his family West to seek it fortune. 



The Shakers of Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield 

 introduced the idea of selling seed in paper packets. Elsie 

 the Borden Cow was born and bred on the Elm Hill Farm 

 in Brookfield; the same farm was home to Bathsheba 

 Spooner, the last woman hanged in Massachusetts. 



Just about every one of the farms has it own interesting 

 tale. In September, 1988, we saluted them not only be- 

 cause of their past, but because of the hope they give us 

 for the future of agriculture in Massachusetts - 360 years 

 old and still going strong. 



Berkshire County 



Hancock Shaker Village ■ 

 Rjdge view Farm - 17m 

 Sunsett Farm - 1736 



1783 



Essex Counly 



Appleton Farm - 1638 

 Arrowhead Farm - 1683 

 Barker Farm - 1642 

 Clark Farm - 1728 

 Cobblers Brook Farm - 1670 

 Cold Springs Farm - 1650 



Franklin County 



Burnett Farm - 1781 

 Griswold Farm - 1783 

 Gunn Farm, Inc. - 1745 

 Meadow View Farm - 1770 

 Mt. Toby Farm -1775 

 Scott Farm - 1782 

 Woodslawn - 1784 



Hampden County 



Gibraltar Farm - 1762 



The Kelso Homestead Farm - 



1779 



Hampshire County 



Arthur Cory Bardwell Farm - 1683 

 Bridgemont Farm - 1786 

 Double BBR Farm -1753 

 Luther Belden, Inc. - 1719 

 Mayval Farm - 1778 

 Phelps Farm - 1751 

 Warner Farm - 1771 

 Wolf Hill Farm -1764 



Middlesex County 



Pilot Grove Farm - 1681 



Plymouth County 



Colchester Farm - 1761 



Worcester County 



Ashland Farm - 1730 

 Balance Rock Farm - 1780 

 Charbrook Farm - 1757 

 Crawford-Bigelow Farm - 1736 

 Elm Hill Farm - 1780 

 Elm View Farm - 1715 

 Highloft Farm - 1716 

 Nourse Farm - 1722 

 Silvermine Farm - 1727 

 Stone Farm - 1765 

 Third Century Farmstead - 1724 



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