About

In 1875 James and Mary Ann Cooper moved from England to Massachusetts with their five children and soon after arriving had another son. In 1884 they moved to Leicester living in a home overlooking Greenville Pond. James worked in the bustling mills of the local area while Mary Ann established a boarding house. In the early 1900s, their oldest son James Arnold purchased the first parts of the farm's land on Henshaw Street. In 1905 he married Cora Raymond and they started a family. In 1915 Arnold and Cora built a home on the farm land for their growing family of five. Soon after, the farm was planted with apple, pear, plum and peach trees, some of which are still on the property today. More land was purchased and the farm was expanded to include cows and chickens. Their oldest son Harold started delivering milk and fruit on his way to school. Harold left school after Eighth grade and began to expand the milk and fruit delivery routes across town leading to the need to purchase more cows. During the 1930's, the health benefits of pasteurization had been proven so a processing room was built. Harold married Hazel in 1940 and she quickly became an essential part of the business, even helping to process milk during World War 2. By the late 1950's, milk routes were being replaced by the convenience of supermarkets. The farm transitioned to selling milk in glass gallons from a house on Stafford Street. The farm quickly outgrew this arrangement and the store was moved to the current location on Henshaw Street in what was the former milk route loading dock attached to the processing room.

Today, the farm is run by Hazel and Harold's son Richard, and covers a total area of approximately 230 acres comprising a mix of grazing pasture, corn, rye and hay fields, as well as woodlands. Livestock includes dairy cows, beef cows, pigs and an assortment of Farmyard Friends.