The Copeland Farm

In the undated photo above, Edgar Copeland stands at the foot of Van Nuys Road on what is now the Scranton farm. A Civil War veteran, the young Copeland worked on farms in southern Vermont before buying the house and 160 acres which were to become perhaps the largest apple orchard in Colrain, once the apple capital of Massachusetts. 

Around 1875, Edgar set out 300 apple trees and many peach trees covering some 15 acres of the farm. Later he planted another 400 trees, mostly Baldwins. He introduced the Macintosh apple to the area and raised prize-winning Holstein cows.

Below is the original Copeland farmhouse, built along with the barn about 1740. The women and girl in the photo are unidentified. The house was replaced in the early 1900s (1912 - see newspaper clipping below) with the house now occupied by Mark Scranton. One of the old barns was in use until 1975.

Above source: [November 2024 issue of the Colrain Clarion.]

The Brattleboro New England Farmer

Saturday, June 12, 1909, page 6.