An article was brought to our attention recently about the Smiley Farm in Adams
County, the oldest family farm in Ohio. The property was actually a gift from King
George III BEFORE the Revolutionary War. And it got us to thinking, wonder just how
many generational farms there are in Summit County?
We did learn that there are more than 2,000 farms that have been in the same family for
at least 100 consecutive years registered in the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s
Historic Family Farms program.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture recognizes the many social, economic and historic
contributions made by Ohio’s founding farm families. Ohio’s Historic Family Farms
program was developed as a way to honor these families for their enduring legacy to
our state.
The program grants three designations based on the number of years of same family
ownership:
Century Farms (100-149 years)
Sesquicentennial Farms (150-199 years)
Bicentennial Farms (200 years and more).
We were quite surprised to see that there are only two farms listed from Summit County
(last updated August 2024):
Call Farm in Stow, established 1803
Jacobs Heritage Farm in Copley, established 1919.
Although we are pretty darn sure there are more family farms out there! Let’s start our
own list, send your info to summit@ofbf.org. We’ll need family name, contact person
with their info, location of the farm and year the farm was established in the family.
If you would like to register your historic family farm with the Ohio’s Historic Family
Farms program, go to https://agri.ohio.gov/programs/farmland-preservation-office/ohio-
historic-family-farms
Summit County Farm Bureau is proud of the farm families that kept their land and their
lifestyle through good times and bad.