Some call it the foot of the Range, some call it the Hockanum Rural Historic District, we call it home! This fertile farmland and quiet village is home to descendants of colonial settlers who have been here, nestled under the Mount Holyoke Range, for generations. Barstow’s Longview Farm is a longtime resident and neighbor in Hockanum Village. Settling here at the southern end of Hadley, MA in 1806, Septimus Barstow and his family purchased this already operational farm from the Lyman family 216 years ago. Seven generations later, our family is still farming, still producing food for our community, and still stewarding this land here along the Connecticut River.Most dairy farms, like Barstow’s Longview Farm, are owned and operated by families deeply rooted in their communities, having been farming for three, seven, even thirteen generations! These family businesses not only connect us with high quality, local, food, – and open space that benefits our greater ecosystem, – but also a connection with our local history and heritage.
Today, Barstow’s Longview Farm is proud to be a part of Hockanum Day, an event that celebrates our historic rural roots and shares with the public where our community is today. To celebrate, visit Skinner State Park, and take a free tour guided tour of the Summit House at 11am or 2pm. Stop in at the Hockanum Village School House, a one room school house that educated many many Barstows and our neighbors between 1840 and 1933. Open house at the School House is noon-3pm with free presentations at noon and 2pm. And please join us at Barstow’s Longview Farm for free walking tours at 11am and 1pm to see how our historic farm has embraced technology while remaining committed to our herd, our land, our team, our community, and our food system