The Robinson Farm

The Robinson Farm. 1793—1961. , The Robinson family settled this property in 1793, two years after Vermont because a state. Four consecutive generations of Robinsons lived and worked here as farmers, artists, writers, naturalists, and radical abolitionists until 1961 when Elizabeth Donoway Robinson passed away., The farmstead during the Robinsons' time was vastly different from what you see today. By the mid-19th century, Vermont was almost completely de-forested to produce building materials and make way for farmland. Once clear-cut, stumps and large stones were removed to prepare the land for plowing. Throughout the property, you will see remains of stonewall fences, built to keep livestock from grazing in planted fields., In 1810, Thomas R. Robinson imported some of the first Merino sheep to Vermont. By the mid-1840s, Addison County boasted 373 sheep per square mile, the highest concentration of sheep in the United States, but only a few years later the sheep industry started to decline and the family began an orchard as an alternative to raising sheep., In 1849, the family planted 76 varieties of apples and 63 types of pears. The fruit trees you see on the property are mostly self-seed descendants and not the original trees., Today the landscape retains the memories of the four generations of Robinsons who lived here at the farm they called "Rokeby." As you walk the historic site and trails, you will encounter paths that once led flocks of sheep and dairy herds to pasture, and fields where grains once grew in abundance., [Illustration captions, left to right, read] , . Aerial photo of Robinson Farm, c.1935, . Undated sketch of single Merino sheep standing in grass. By Rowland Evans Robinson., . George Gilpin Robinson (1825-1894) in field with sheep at Rokeby., . Undated [and illegible] sketch by Rowland Evans Robinson., . Rokeby orchard, early 20th-century.