According to its owners, the land on which Pilot Grove rests was one of the original twelve lots in the town of Stow. Abijah Warren of Weston purchased the land and established the farm in 1782.

Warren’s descendants — successively Jonas Warren, Francis W. Warren, Henry H. Warren, and Francis W. Warren — named the farm “Pilot Grove” for its patch of pine trees that could be spotted by pilots on ships coming into Boston Harbor. They started out growing squash and asparagus, which they sold at Haymarket Square. In the early 1800s, the family used the farm brook to power a tannery. Throughout the 1930s, the farm operated as a dairy and served a milk delivery route in Stow and Hudson. They also made butter and cottage cheese and established an apple orchard.

Unfortunately, the hurricanes of 1938 and 1944 destroyed the pine trees and orchards, and the dairy industry declined. The family leveled the orchard and turned it into a grazing field. Around 1948, sixth-generation farmer Skip Warren began learning sheep farming through the 4H program. Skip graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with an agriculture degree and introduced the farm to its first Shropshires, Dorsets, and crossbreeds.

While the farm soon became known for raising lamb and wool, they also raise ​​beef cows, chickens, pigs, and pumpkins. All products are sold from their farm store at the iconic red barn on Crescent Street. The farm is now in its ninth generation of family ownership, headed by Stow town clerk Linda Hathaway.

Sources: youtube.com, facebook.com/PilotGroveFarm1782
Photo: facebook.com/PilotGroveFarm1782