The Forest F. Crown family will gather on Sunday afternoon, May 22, 2016 at Germantown’s King Barn Dairy MOOseum to tell their “end-of-an-era” story of a century-old farm in Montgomery County. The MOOseum is located in the South Germantown Regional Park at 18028 Central Park Circle, off I-270 and Route 118 to Schaeffer Road and Richter Farm Road.
Forest Crown founded the farm in 1918, with 76 acres on Fields Road in Gaithersburg. It grew over the years to 220 acres, with family members raising corn, wheat, and hay crops. Dairy cows were brought in as the acreage grew, with milk being shipped to the Washington, D.C. market for 62 years. There were hogs raised and butchered, chickens producing eggs for sale, and beef cattle grazed and sold for beef. A large garden provided fresh vegetables for family and sale.
The farm progressed from horses to tractors, from hand milking to vacuum milking, and from ten-gallon milk cans to a 300-gallon bulk milk tank. By 2006, the family farm was one of the last in the Gaithersburg area, and was surrounded on all sides by development. It was the “end of an era” for a century-old family farm operation.
The Crown family will tell the story of this noted Montgomery County dairy farm between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM on May 22 at the authentic MOOseum dairy barn museum near Germantown. A farm family exhibit has been established for this special Sunday afternoon event, illustrating how the family and their farm have served the Montgomery County area. The farm is listed on the MOOseum’s unique dairy farm map, pinpointing more than 400 family dairy farms that once operated in the suburban county.
The Crown family story is part of the MOOseum’s continuing Sunday series to showcase farms that contributed significantly in the county’s 240-year history. The MOOseum houses one of the area’s most complete and unusual dairy archives. It is housed in a 1930’s dairy barn, and its exhibits include a 1904 horse-drawn dairy wagon, a 1921 Model T milk truck, a model railroad, replicas of major dairy cattle found in Montgomery County, and samples of dairy equipment used in the county during the past 100 years.
There’s a full program on May 22: butter making, cow milking, arts and crafts, early milking equipment, life-size cows, and Astronaut, a famous Montgomery County bull. Come meet the Crown family and learn the story of their home county’s dairy tradition. Admission is free. Contributions are welcome.