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Orchards, Fields, Gardens, Pastures
Even in the mill's heyday, the Peirce family ran a diversified farm. They grew vegetables, tended bees, raised livestock for meat and dairy and cultivated fields of wheat, corn, rye, and oats. On this hillside they maintained a substantial orchard. Some of these products were consumed by the family, their tenants, and their enslaved workers. Others were sold at market.
This detail from an 1861 map shows the mill, several other buildings, and the rows of trees on the hillside that made up the Peirce family orchard. |