I was born in this farm house in 1943 and lived there until after my parents deaths in 1960. My dad raised wheat, corn and soybeans with the occasional crop of oats or barley on this 140 acre farm. The grain operation was complimented with a livestock operation including beef cattle, hogs and chickens – essentially the kind of farming common at the time in that area.

I can faintly remember the days in the late 40’s when electricity (thanks to FDR’s Rural Electrification Administration) was installed. Before that we made do with kerosene lamps.

After I left, a neighbor and friend took over the sharecropping arrangement and converted to dairy. In this photo, the farmstead is mostly as we had it, the main change being alterations to the red barn and the addition of the loafing shed. I have an aerial photo taken sometime in the mid-50’s in case anyone wants to see the changes. The son of the neighbor who took over now lives there and has a pure corn, soybean and wheat operation. Anybody who wants to view the changes can use Google Maps or Google Earth.

9355 U. S. Route 460-Illinois State Route 15, about unincorporated Plum Hill, Illinois. View looks north.