FOUR-GENERATION FAMILY FARM TO BE HONORED AT KING BARN DAIRY MOOSEUM ON JULY 24
GERMANTOWN, MARYLAND (July 24, 2016) For more than 100 years, the Duvall family has farmed one of Montgomery County’s (Md.) most historic farms. The descendants of Sherwood (Sr.) and Verdie Duvall will gather at Germantown’s King Barn Dairy MOOseum on Sunday afternoon, July 24, to tell their family’s story of their historic farm near Damascus, Maryland. The MOOseum is located in the South Germantown Regional Park at 18028 Central Park Circle, off I-270 and Route 118.
Sherwood Duvall, Sr. bought the 52-acre farm from his father, William Franklin Duvall, around 1905, cultivating its rolling land until his death in 1933. His 14-year-old son, Sherwood, Jr., quit school upon his father’s death, and continued raising tobacco, wormweed corn, wheat, oats, and hay as cash crops to support the family. In 1944, he borrowed money, and built a ten-stanchion cow barn to produce milk for the Washington, D.C. market. Chickens, eggs, and vegetables added to the family’s support.
In the late 1940’s, Sherwood joined a partnership with his younger brother, Kenneth, expanding the dairy operation, and continuing to produce crops. The historic Duvall family farm has continued its agricultural production for more than a century in the Damascus area. Today, 98-year-old Sherwood Duvall, Jr. and his wife, Hazel, live nearby, as do their three children.
Duvall family members will tell the story of this historic Montgomery County farm between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM on July 24 at the authentic MOOseum dairy barn museum near Germantown. A farm family exhibit has been established for this special Sunday afternoon event, illustrating how the family and their farm have served the Montgomery County area. The farm is listed on the MOOseum’s unique dairy farm map, pinpointing more than 400 family dairy farms that once operated in the suburban county.
The Duvall family story is part of the MOOseum’s continuing Sunday series to showcase farms that contributed significantly in the county’s 240-year history. The MOOseum houses one of the area’s most complete and unusual dairy archives. It is housed in a 1930’s dairy barn, and its exhibits include a 1904 horse-drawn dairy wagon, a 1921 Model T milk truck, a model railroad, replicas of major dairy cattle found in Montgomery County, and samples of dairy equipment used in the county during the past 100 years. Come meet the Duvall family and learn the story of their home county’s dairy tradition. Admission is free. Contributions are welcome.
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