Daniels Farmstead preserves history with eye to the future

Daniels Farmstead preserves history with eye to the future

By Sharron Luttrell

Stretching up through the centuries from Colonial times to the early 1990s, 10 generations of the Daniels family made a life and a living at 286 Mendon St. in Blackstone. They farmed the land and raised dairy cows, grew apples and operated a cider mill.

The same grit and resourcefulness that kept the farm going through the centuries is alive and well in the Daniels’ descendants, the Brewer family, who own and operate Southwick’s Zoo. The family created the nonprofit Daniels Farmstead Foundation 30 years ago to “provide a place for people to gather, celebrate, and learn the values of a working farm and its traditions,” the foundation’s mission statement says.

“When your family has something like that, you want it preserved. You don’t want it to be house lots,” family matriarch and foundation President Emeritus Justine Brewer said of the farmstead where her mother grew up.

Justine Brewer in the dining room of the farmhouse where 10 generations of her family lived.

The property’s hilltop setting and historic buildings invite visitors to slip into an earlier era, offering a break from present-day concerns. Yet, the Brewers and other foundation volunteers recognized that history and landscape alone may not draw everyone. To ensure the property thrives into the future, they’d have to appeal to 21^st century interests.

In April, the farmstead will open a 38-acre, 18-hole disc golf course and plans are in the works to build a taproom serving small-batch hard cider from the farm’s orchards. Both will be across the street from the farmhouse.

The Blackstone Valley Cider Co. received its state license this week and is wending its way through the local permitting process, Daniels Farmstead Foundation Vice President Nicholas Keyes said.

The foundation piloted a disc golf course last fall using nine rented disc golf baskets. In just over a week, it brought in $3,000 from players who, using the honor system, donated $10 each, the foundation’s President Ken Tubman said.

“We were shocked by how many people came,” he said.

Disc golf and taproom proceeds will go toward restoring the farmstead’s cider mill to working condition, and to continue restoration work on the 1750 farmhouse. The Daniels Farmstead is 100% volunteer-run, with no paid staff.

Justine Brewer’s son, Rob Brewer, points to a copy of the 1870 construction schedule for the cider mill.

The property’s path from working farm to a spot on the National Register of Historic Places and now, a community gathering place, began in 1993, when its last inhabitant, Doris Daniels King, moved to a nursing home. Her wish was that the property be preserved and her home be maintained as a museum for the public to enjoy, so she signed it over to the Metacomet Land Trust. Two years into the agreement, she was dissatisfied with the land trust’s direction, so appealed to Brewer, her niece, to step in. It took nearly 10 years and the establishment of the nonprofit foundation, but the family regained oversight of the buildings and 60 of the farm’s original 188 acres.

Over time, and with grants, donations and sponsorships, volunteers repaired and repainted the buildings to historic preservation standards. The foundation began hosting free events, including farmhouse and cider mill tours, live music, educational programs, and a weekly seasonal farmers market.

This season the farmstead has shifted to a more ambitious schedule, increasing both the variety and number of free events from four to 12. They’ve also expanded their social media presence.

The strategy seems to be working, according to Keyes.

“This season, out of any season, has been our busiest that we’ve had,” he said.

At the farmstead’s Pollinator Festival in July, Justine Brewer took a moment from her duties to take in the many people milling about the land her ancestors cleared and farmed for so many generations. She marveled at the sight.

“I feel so encouraged now that things are coming back and seeing so many new people. It’s almost like we were reborn,” she said.

Daniels Farmstead will host five more farmers markets and events this season, all on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.