Agriculture

Agriculture has always been an important part of Lowell. In a few years after the first
settlements in the Lowell area, "much of the thick and heavy forest of the Muskingum
alluviums gave place to fields of stout corn." The soil on the terraces, made fertile by
disintegrated limestone, produced crops of wheat, other cereals, and tobacco.

The different crops were supplemented by livestock, including sheep, cattle, and hogs.
In fact, these animals, as well as horses and sometimes turkeys, are reported to have
been "driven overland to Baltimore'' after 1822. About 1830, there was concern over
"the wolves having begun to kill sheep along the easterly side of the Muskingum." Cat
tle may have gained steadily, when the first steam tannery was built in 1866 and an
other was operating eleven years later, each having a "capacity of 2,500 heavy hides a
year." Hogs for market purposes became an important farm enterprise as indicated by
a report in 1891 that "another department of a (local) business is that of packing pork...
nearly 400 hogs this last season."

Large quantities of fruits, especially apples, were grown up to the turn of the century.
Apples were shipped in large amounts in flatboats down the Muskingum, Ohio, and
Mississippi rivers from about 1830 to around 1880. Many were used in the distillation
of apple brandy and, later, cider vinegar. Each farmer had his own plant, until the use
of acetic acid generally in vinegar making brought competition that he was unable to
meet. Most tree fruits went out around 1900 due largely to ravages of diseases and
insects since pest controls, including insecticides, were not yet much developed.

Between 1910 and 1920, small fruits, including strawberries and raspberries, gave way
to vegetables for which there was a better market. Farmers of the area "gave the town
its best years" when they began producing cabbages and tomatoes for commercial
markets around the 1910s. Truck growing was especially popular during the 1910s and
1920s, when "they used to bring in a cabbage special, an engine with seven or eight
cars, daily during the cutting season."

As of 1950 estimates, trucking was rated second only to dairying among farm enter
prises, it was estimated to represent at least a $300,000 business in terms of money
paid annually to growers of the Lowell area. About three-fourths of the vegetables were
disposed of through the local packing house of the Marietta Truck Growers Associ
ation while the others are handled by individual buyers. Tomatoes were regarded as
the most important vegetable crop, followed by cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, sweet
corn, and peppers.

Sorting and packing of these vegetables in Lowell meant the employment of a consid
erable number of workers through the harvesting season. As many as 50 or 60 people,
mostly women and girls, were employed for ten weeks or more.

Figures from the 1940s show the importance of the different farm enterprises in Adams
Township. Corn was grown more generally than any other grain crop; in 1944, 1361
acres compared to 582 acres of winter wheat and only 46 acres of oats. Clover and
timothy hay accounted for 1469, alfalfa 321, and soybeans 158 among the total num
ber of acres (4537) devoted to harvested crops. Only potatoes were named among
the vegetable crops, with more than 13,500 bushels produced from 964 acres on 129
farms. There were in the township more than 6800 apple trees producing 4750 bushels
on 90 farms.

Cattle topped the kinds of livestock produced, with 1741 head on 132 farms. Less
than half of these were cows and heifers, with 677 cows reported milked. In the mid
20th Century, dairying in the Lowell area as well as in Washington County generally
increased due to a "deficiency area" in this portion of the Ohio Valley. In more recent
years the dairy industry has suffered. The township (Adams) had about half as many
sheep as cattle, 881, of which a large majority were ewes and ewe lambs. It is note
worthy, though, that the sheep were limited to approximately 30 farms mostly in small
flocks while the cattle, including cows milked, frequented as many as 132. Eighty some
farms reported 484 hogs, about one in seven of which was a sow or gilt for spring far
rowing. But the sows and gilts were on only 46 farms. About four-fifths of the total num
ber of farms harbored almost 12,000 chickens.

It seems significant that, at that time, the 150 farms of the township comprised only
15,870 acres with more than 2300 of this in pastured woodland. All farms were valued
at approximately $655,000. Almost two-thirds (95) of the total were owned, 29 were
partly owned and the balance was entirely in the hands of tenants.

In comparison, the most recent Agricultural Census from 2017 shows that Washington
County has a total of 1,106 farms comprising 144,406 acres of land. 25,331 of these
acres are for Forage, 10,411 for Soybeans, 10,053 for Corn for grain, 2,544 for Corn
for silage or greenchop, and 867 for Wheat for grain. As for livestock, Washington
County has 133 Broilers, 21,129 Cattle and Calves, 735 Goats, 2,293 Hogs and Pigs,
1,366 Horses and Ponies, 3,116 Layers, 360 Pullets, 1,497 Sheep and Lambs, and 57
Turkeys.

Today, the citizens of Lowell and Adams Township are provided agricultural needs from
various farms, gardens, and greenhouses. Lowell is notably anchored on both sides
by the produce stands of R & K Wagner Farms and Worthington Produce. The Wagner
stand is located on the south end of Lowell along State Route 60, while the Worth
ington stand is located on the north end of Lowell along State Route 60. These farms
have provided a wide variety of produce, including: Raspberries, Blueberries, Corn,
Rhubarb, Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions, Green Beans, Zucchini, Squash, Cucumbers,
Cabbage, Beets, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, and Pumpkins.

The Vaughn-Stacy-Evans farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in
2006 following a request and application made by property owner Stacy Evans.

His family took over the property in 1912. The property includes a farmhouse, smoke
house, hog house, chicken house, a barn that has a Mail Pouch Tobacco advertise
ment, and a small log cabin.

Many of the buildings still stand about the same as historians think they did back in the
19th and early 20th centuries.

Historical estimates place a Nathun Bent as the land’s original proprietor, and the prop
erty went through a few owners, including a Henrietta Laurence in 1816. Switching
from the Laurence family to the Vaughn family and eventually to the Evans.

One building sits on the property by chance - a tool shed that was originally a cobbler
shop in Lowell. The 1913 flood carried the building onto the property and its been there
ever since.