Our History
Freeport residents and area locals may remember Wolfe’s Neck before it was the award-winning campground, demonstration farm, and nonprofit educational center that it is today…
Situated on four miles of coastline just minutes from Freeport’s downtown district, the farm now bustles with tourists, young summer campers, teens in the coastal gardens, and the Organic Dairy Farmer Training and Research Program. Its 626-acres of preserved scenic landscape hosts thousands of visitors each year, but is rooted in the Smith family legacy and their early vision for its use.
Wolfe’s Neck Farm was the creation of LMC and Eleanor Houston Smith, summer residents from Philadelphia, who came to the area just after World War II when the economy was failing and farms were going back to forest. Together they were committed to the future of Maine farming, to the new idea of organic agriculture, to conservation and the preservation of open space, to public access to the sea, and to the preservation of historic buildings and sites.
In the late 1950s the Smiths started an organic beef farm, putting together a series of 19th century farmsteads, which has since become the collection of historic structures that Wolfe’s Neck Center continues to operate out of today.
One such historic building was the Mallet Barn, located at the end of Wolfe’s Neck: E.B. Mallet built this soaring post-and-beam barn in 1890 to the store the hay before he sent it to Boston, Philadelphia, and New York by sailing ship from the end of the neck. Experts believe the barn may be the largest of its kind in the state. The Banter House, at the corner of Burnett and Wolfe’s Neck Road, now serves as the residence for Organic Dairy Program apprentices, and the nearby Pote House is another preserved building with an interesting history.
The farm progressed into a public nonprofit in 1997. The Smith Family Legacy lives on today and guides us with renewed purpose and a sense of urgency. We believe agriculture can and must play a role in mitigating climate change, and that Wolfe’s Neck Center is uniquely positioned to be a leader in this effort. Here, people can be immersed in farming and nature, train to be farmers, and participate in cutting-edge soil health research. We strive to play a leading role in shaping the future of sustainable agriculture by training new farmers, inspiring people to make informed food choices, and facilitating farm-based education and research. We host annual barn dances and festivals as well as growing vegetables and pasture-raised meat for the local community.
Open free to the public year-round, the farm encourages visitors to traverse its miles of hiking trails, meet the livestock, explore the gardens and enjoy the open space.