Jeff and Sharon Beck of Bargersville pose on their farm near their Hoosier Homestead plaque. The Hoosier Homestead award is a state program honoring farms that have remained in the same family for more than 100 years.
Driving around Bargersville, it’s nearly impossible to miss the sounds of construction coming from all directions.
Dozens of houses are in the process of being built in Bargersville and throughout White River Township. Earth movers and cranes are at work daily in new subdivisions, while contractors put the finishing touches on what will become homes for new residents.
What had long been wide open farmland is increasingly giving rise to luxury homes and suburban neighborhoods.
But despite a changing landscape in the fastest growing part of the county, family farms have endured. White River Township is home to about 10 Hoosier Homestead farms — plots of land that have remained in the same family for more than a century.
Their ability to survive and thrive in a community where they have deep roots remains a point of pride for the families as they maintain a culture that is increasingly uncommon.
“It’s interesting to go back in the history, and think about all that’s happened here. It means a lot for that heritage,” said Jeff Beck, whose family has owned a farm in the area since the 1890s. “You just try to keep it maintained.”
The land in what is now White River Township was first settled in the 1820s, and like much of the rest of the county, it had primarily been used for farming ever since.
Only in recent decades has that changed.
The story is told in the growing population of the township. In the 1950 Census, White River Township had a population of 2,832. In 1970, 10,740 people lived there. By 2000, the population was 35,539. The 2020 Census revealed that 52,365 people live in the township.
New housing developments have sprung up around Bargersville and throughout the area. A majority of that growth has come between 2017 and 2020, according to building permits from town officials.
Still, White River Township’s agricultural roots remain an important part of the culture.
“We’re proud of farm heritage and farmers continuing to work the land,” Beck said.
Beck’s family founded their farm in 1893, when Amzie and Cova Jane Young Beck purchased 70 acres of land. An additional 160 acres was purchased in 1921, after a fire destroyed the initial home.
Farming was passed down from father to son. John Earl Beck, Beck’s father, worked the land with Amzie Beck, eventually taking over the farming operation in 1952. Beck farmed with his father for a number of years, before taking a job at Eli Lilly.
The family now rents the land to local farmer Steve Duke, himself part of a longtime farm family.
The Becks applied for the Hoosier Homestead program in 2000, providing the documentation to state officials that the farm had remained in the family since it was founded.
For them, it was a way to honor their family’s tradition.
“It’s important to me to share the history of the community,” Beck said.
The Hoosier Homestead distinction was created 1976 to recognize the contributions family farms have made to the economic, cultural and social advancements of Indiana, according to Bruce Kettler, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.
Distinctions are given to farms that have remained in the same family for 100, 150 or 200 years. Documentation of ownership is needed, though program staff help people Kettler said.
“It’s a pretty decent amount of work to do this, especially if somebody is kind of starting from scratch and don’t have a lot of records,” Kettler said. “At the same time, people find it a pretty rewarding process because of that.”
In the past 45 years, more than 5,800 farms have received the honor. Another 75 awards will be given in the next ceremony, Kettler said.
According to a database kept by the Indiana Department of Agriculture, Johnson County is home to more than 50 Hoosier Homestead farms.
“Certain parts of the state, particularly around our urban and suburban areas, there is some disappearance of farmland. But what I’ve found is that a lot of families like to be able to understand the history of their family and where they came from,” Kettler said. “This program allows us to understand our history.”
About a dozen of Johnson County’s Homestead farms are in White River Township. The Duke family farm was founded in 1894, and they were recognized with the award in 1998.
Applying for the award was something that was important to the family, said Steve Duke, who lives at the home where the Hoosier Homestead marker is displayed, where his father and grandfather both lived.
“It was something special to my grandmother before she passed away. She wanted to get the recognition of the Hoosier Homestead farm. It was something that was very dear to her,” he said.
It’s meaningful to be part of a group that is increasingly rare.
“It’s very humbling that we’ve lived in the area as long as we have,” Duke said. “There aren’t that many people in White River Township, especially in agriculture, that have been around this long. It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to work the farm and the ground that past generations grew up on and did as well.”
The Richardson family farm, just around the corner from the Beck’s, came into being in 1835. George Mallow founded the farm, and the small creek that runs through the property still bears his name, as does Mallow Run Winery, which is located on the farm today.
“I’m very proud of the heritage, and I admire what they did with so little so many years ago. It’s a fine feeling,” said John Richardson, owner of the farm.
In 2004, the Richardson’s applied for and were granted a Hoosier Homestead award. To be recognized for its 187-year-history was an important act for the family, Richardson said.
“The fact that my great-great-grandparents, great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents were all part of this farm for years and years and years, it’s a great thing to honor that heritage,” he said.
As part of the Hoosier Homestead rules, farms are still eligible for the program as long as they have 10 or more acres of retained land. That land can be used for a park, wildlife habitat or other uses that benefit the community without losing the Homestead distinction.
Beck converted a portion of his farmland into a nature park, Praise Acres. Antique plows, cultivators, seeders and hay rakes are arranged in a museum-like fashion, letting people see the tools farmers used 100 years ago. Dozens of trees have been planted in rows, an attempt to allow the forest to reclaim the field. Huge chunks of a felled pin oak were carved into depictions of wildlife, farming, a bald eagle and praying hands.
He and his wife, Sharon, hope it can connect to trail systems in Bargersville and its parks.
“It’s going to preserve the Homestead distinction and be a home for wildlife,” Beck said. “This area is going to be like Indianapolis or Greenwood quickly. That’s coming. Development is important, but retaining that history is important, too.”
