Our farm was built in 1869 by Thomas Ireland Smith (1835-1925). Thomas’ father James Smith owned the large 140 acre farm where Thomas grew up, bordered by Morrow Rossburg, Bennett, and Ludlum roads in Morrow. The land was later divided to Thomas and his brother Samuel.
Thomas' house was built along with a large timber frame barn. Although divided several times, the farm stayed in the Smith family until 1944. Samuel's house also still stands today at the corner of Bennett and Morrow Rossburg.
The New Storage Barn
In 2011, what remained of the original barn was lost due to a snow collapse. The structure was replaced with one of like construction and size in order to preserve the character and quality of the property. The new timber frame barn (built by Cohee Preservation Co.) is mortise and tenon construction just like the original and is used for storage.
We've been making maple syrup at the farm since 2009 under the Thomas Ireland Smith Farm name, but many of those who lived here before us made "liquid gold" as well. Making maple syrup in southern Ohio is a somewhat tricky business. For more on the subject, visit our page on:
June 1 & 2 - Troy Strawberry Festival, Troy Ohio
Aug 10 & 11 - Englewood Art Festival, Englewood Ohio
September (dates TBD) - FARM Club Old Machinery Days, Morrow, Ohio
Oct 12 & 13 - Ohio Sauerkraut Festival, Waynesville, Ohio
Nov 16 - Sycamore Band & Orchestra Craft Show, Sycamore High School, Cincinnati OH
Nov 23 - LMHS Art & Crafts Show, Little Miami High School, Morrow OH
Dec 4 - Milford High School Athletic Boosters Craft Show, Milford High School, Cincinnati, OH
Dec 11 - Ross Middle School Athletic Boosters Craft Show, Ross Middle School, Ross, OH
"Sugaring" is an old tradition at the farm. The largest sugar maple on the property is estimated at over 120 years old. It sits behind the old summer kitchen and is surrounded by a stone patio. There is a wonderful story about this tree that was handed down to us.
One day an errant maple seed fell through a crack in the roof of the old workshop and onto the floor where it sprouted. Against all odds the seedling survived, climbing skyward until it broke through the roof. Even then it was allowed to continue growing through the workshop until the 1970's when the building was finally removed around it, leaving the tree in place.
This tree has been tapped by many generations of owners. We also have a lovely row of old sugar maples that line the street.
In addition to sugar maples, we tap silver, black, and red maples on our farm (as well as many farms around us), to produce our 100% Pure Ohio Maple Syrup.
All of our syrup is made from hand-collected sap from right here in Warren County.
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