A little Shelburne Farms History

The recent geological history of Shelburne Farms begins about 2.6 million years ago as the land at the Farm was transformed by glaciers over a mile high, advancing and retreating throughout the ice age.

There is evidence of human life in the Champlain Valley dating back 12,000 years. The Abenaki are the First Peoples of this place. In the 17th century, Europeans arrived and soon after began clearing the land and displacing the Indigenous community through settler colonialism. The Town of Shelburne was chartered in 1763 and by 1840 it was reported that in addition to fruit and grain production, local farmers raised over 17,000 sheep that year.

From 1886 to 1902, William Seward and Lila Vanderbilt Webb consolidated 32 of these farms into a 3,800-acre agricultural estate. Its landscape design was inspired by Central Park landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The Webbs’ grand model horse farm began a tradition of agricultural innovation. With increasing financial pressures by the 1950s, the family shifted away from maintaining the main house and barns to focus on raising dairy and beef animals.

More details to come