Felps Berry Farm

Felps Berry Farm. . Andy Felps (1882-1964) and Fannie Cannon Felps (1885-1974) bought land to build a home on this site in 1914. The subsequent farm became the largest producer of berries in the area, earning Andy Felps the local title of "berry king." It is estimated that he sold 6,000 crates of berries in peak years, at a price of $5-6 per crate. During harvest season, he employed more than 100 workers to pick, crate, and haul grapes, dewberries, and blackberries that were distributed by truck, or via train on the Cotton Belt Railroad., During the 1920s, as the berry business began to wane, Andy Felps built a nursery business beginning with a crop of sycamore trees. Selling his nursery stock by the truckload, Felps was instrumental in getting Bransford Road paved so that heavier trucks could travel more easily., Throughout his life Andy Felps demonstrated a pioneering entrepreneurial spirit, lending money to other young families to build homes and farms. Thus, from small beginnings, he led the way for the propagation of other family-owned nursery businesses; many of which operated successfully from the 1940s through the late 20th century.