Welcome To Laurel Valley Tree Farm!

THE FARM:
The Laurel Valley Tree Farm is located at 5756 Route 711 about 10 miles north of Ligonier, PA and 1½ mile south of New Florence, PA. Route 711 connects State Routes 30 and 22.  This section of  Route 711 is part of the “Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway.”  The views of the hills, farms and forests along the highway are  picture-worthy at every season of the year.  Many small communities are located along Route 711 and there are small businesses developing along this corridor.  You can take the Donegal exit off of the PA Turnpike and travel north 25 miles along Route 711 for a beautiful drive through the Laurel Highlands right to my farm. 

The farm originally produced various crops and animals for local sale. Laurel Valley Tree Farm has been a Christmas Tree Farm since the early 1950s. The farm is still known to older residents of the region as "The West Farm."  The original farm was much larger than the area left today.  Many of the houses along Rt. 711 were carved out of the original farm. The farm name has not changed, but some customers refer to it as the “Mail Pouch Farm”, “The Boring Farm” or “The Galbraith Farm.”

I recently bought the farm of 83 acres and hope that I realize my goal of keeping it as farmland and never let it be developed for housing.  Plans include adding activities on the farm for every season, both for residents of the area and the tourists traveling through.  Keep checking back for more information as plans are completed.

THE MAIL POUCH BARN:
Mail Pouch Barns were the “pop-up” ad of the early 1900s.  Today, these original barns are becoming quite rare in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.  The idea of painting barns with Mail Pouch advertising is a truly regional creation.  I have talked with farmers in other parts of the U.S. who were surprised that farmers in our area had been paid to have their barns painted, saving labor and paint costs!

The original house on my property was built about 1818 and the barn was added before the Civil War.  These barns were usually constructed of the first cut timber which allowed beams of  20-40 feet long and as much as 10 x 10 inches square.  When repaired regularly over 150 years, these barns can remain very usable and safe.

Unfortunately, my Mail Pouch Barn was not repaired over the past 60 years by the prior owner group.  I asked seven different barn repairing companies to assess the possibility of making needed safety repairs.  Each one left the barn with downcast eyes and muttering that the barn had been left go too long and there was no hope to save it. The corner posts of the barn were completely rotted out, the sides had been held together with cables and the roof dipped precariously.  In my area there are many Mennonite and Amish builders who specialize in barns; they would not tackle this one.  One construction company said they would be able to dismantle the whole barn, build a new one and use as much of the old timbers and siding as possible--at a cost of $80-100,000.  As a new farmer with a sizable land mortgage to repay, there was no way for me to finance this project. 

I am sharing this information so that old customers who have bought trees for 3 and 4 generations will not be surprised when they see a now empty space.  The barn had to be taken down.  The timbers inside have been sold and will be reused in new construction.  The cut stone in the basement was sold to landscape companies for reuse.  Safety was a major concern. Someone walking on the main floor could have easily fallen through.  The whole structure could have fallen over at any time. Also, the equipment stored in the basement would have been destroyed.

My home page shows a watercolor featuring the barn by a local artist, Bonnie Luther.  It is a wonderful example of many of the art works done by photographers and artists in oil, pastels and watercolor.  These prints can be purchased online from me by contacting my company email address.  The artist does small note cards and room sized prints, either matted or unmatted and arrangements can be made for mailing. 

There is one other Mail Pouch Barn close to the tree farm.  On PA Rt. 711, about 5 miles south of my farm, there is a barn still standing on the west side of the road.