National Designation Sought For Historic Simsbury Farm Tied To MLK

SIMSBURY, CT — State and local officials are working together to have a Simsbury farm that played a major role in the civil rights movement on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Simsbury Board of Selectmen Aug. 11, unanimously voted to support the State Historic Preservation Office's application to have the Meadowood Farm placed on the national register.

Meadowood, located off Firetown and Hoskins roads in Simsbury, was once a tobacco farm in the 1940s that employed a teenage Martin Luther King Jr., the iconic civil rights leader slain by an assassin's bullet in 1968.

A federal holiday in his name marks his birthday each January.

According to Simsbury officials, the town was approached by the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office "with an opportunity to move forward in seeking this prestigious national designation."

Meadowood already has a state historic designation, and officials are confident it meets the necessary thresholds for the National Register.

According to a letter from the state to Simsbury First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis, Meadowwood was once known as the "Cullman Brothers Tobacco Farm," where King worked in the summer while he was a high school student.

The state historic designation was finalized in 2023, with national recognition being an on-again, off-again goal since 2019.

"We would like to continue recognition efforts by completing a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the property, a project previously discussed with the town in 2019-2022," wrote Jenny Scofield, deputy state historic preservation officer, to Mackstutis earlier this month.

According to the National Register of Historic Places, being on the register "is an honorary designation intended to recognize and communicate how a place is associated with our history and what physical characteristics remain that represent that history. National Register designation does not result in restrictions on how an owner may use or improve their property."

Currently overseen by the New Haven-based Trust for Public Land, Meadowoods appears to fall in line with being a nationally historic site.

"In the 1940s, a teenage Martin Luther King Jr. spent two summers working on the tobacco farms in Connecticut’s Farmington Valley," wrote the Trust for Public Land.

"Historians say that the experience shaped King’s worldview in important ways."

Mackstutis said a federal designation is more than just a designation; it can have positive financial impacts on the site's preservation.

"It also opens us up to potential grants and programs," Mackstutis said. "If things are ever done or restored there, there is the potential for grants in the future."

For the minutes of the Aug. 11 Simsbury Board of Selectmen meeting, click on this link.

For documents and correspondence related to the application, click on this link and scroll to Page 80.

For more information on Meadowood Farm, click on this link.

For more information on Martin Luther King Jr.'s time working in Simsbury, click on this link.

From Jan. 13, 2023: 'MLK's Legacy Has Deeper Meaning In Simsbury'