The questions everybody asks: Why Texas? In the 1700 and 1800’s, the tiny road outside our front door was one of the main routes between Boston and Springfield, much of it a dirt cart track. Later years brought heavier traffic and the construction of the State Road (Oxbow Road), then Northside Turnpike (Stafford Street), then Sturbridge Road (Route 20) and then finally the Mass Pike. The hamlets of Larnedville and Millward we renamed Texas and Dodge. Our farm is located on part of the site of the old Charlton Poor Farm which is next to Texas, MA and provided shelter, food, clothes, and work for the poor from the five towns. The residents at the 265-acre farm tended to the vegetable gardens, milked the cows, and collected eggs from the chickens. Excess produce and dairy items were sold to cover the expenses. As time passed, several more towns joined the association, which purchased the property in 1925. The almshouse, located off A. Young Road, is now converted to a rest home.
The owner of Texas Tree Farm is an airline pilot with very close connections to the flight crews and aircraft that were involved in the 9/11 terrorist attack that originated out of Boston Logan airport. Feeling the need to do something positive (not destructive) in the wide outdoors, and completely different from the hassles of airline travel and security restrictions, the re-construction of this farm started in November 2001. It has been a labor of love, sweat, and frustration, to name a few, as we battle the rocky ground that made Charlton more suited to cows than any other form of agriculture. 10,000 trees later, we have a vibrant Christmas Tree Farm.