By any modern measure, it’s a field that looks like farmland you would find across the U.S. Corn, soybeans, and the steady rhythm of planting and harvest happens each year. But in James City County, Virginia, this ground carries a timeline that stretches back more than four centuries.
According to historians and archaeologists, Mainland Farm is the oldest continuously cultivated farmland in the United States—land that has been worked since the earliest days of European settlement in the early 1600s.
The exact starting point is still debated. Some records point to 1619, while others suggest farming began even earlier. But what isn’t disputed is that crops have been grown here for more than 400 years, which was long before the United States even existed as a nation.
“This is probably the only piece of agricultural land in the country, on the East Coast or any place, that has been under continuous European cultivation since the early 1600s,” says Michael Westfall, Vice Chair of the James City County Historical Commission.
An Unbothered Landscape That Still Tells Its Story
Archaeologist Alain Outlaw has spent more than 50 years studying what lies beneath these fields, and what he’s found paints a picture of early survival, adaptation, and agricultural focus.
At one of the earliest sites, dated to around 1618, researchers uncovered agricultural tools, including hoes that were repaired and reused even as other artifacts, including weapons, were discarded.
“Interestingly, we found that these hoes were repaired at the same time they were throwing pieces of armor away, complete swords and all that,” Outlaw says. “So what’s going on? They’re focusing on raising tobacco and repairing hoes rather than messing with the military equipment. I find that very interesting from an agricultural standpoint.”
That focus on farming, he says, is part of what shaped the region, and also why the land remains so historically significant today.
Outlaw adds that even after centuries of use, the soil itself remains remarkably productive.
“Having dug through here, it’s the best soil I’ve dug in the last 50 years,” he says. “Very rich in content, very easy to sift. We’ve preserved not only the history here, but a very significant agricultural parcel.”
From Colonial Fields to a Revolutionary War Battlefield
The story of Mainland Farm extends well beyond agriculture.
These same fields later became part of the American Revolution. In July 1781, the Battle of Greenspring was fought across this landscape, and just months before the decisive victory at Yorktown.
“At that time, it looked almost exactly the way it does landscape-wise,” Outlaw says. “There are few improvements. There’s a roadway that’s moved and all that.”
Even today, he notes, the landscape remains remarkably recognizable compared to its 18th-century form.
“If Lafayette, who was in the Battle of Greenspring, were standing here now, he would recognize the battlefield landscape. Where the British were, where his forces were. That’s pretty remarkable,” says Outlaw.
Preserving Farmland Under Pressure
Keeping that continuity intact hasn’t happened by accident.
With development pressure increasing across James City County, preservation advocates say protecting large, intact landscapes like Mainland Farm has become increasingly urgent.
“There’s not a huge amount of this county that can be developed,” says Westfall. “So every piece that’s available is under pressure from somebody to build houses or something. And that’s the reason it was really important that this be protected.”
That protection came through a conservation easement established in 2013 after James City County purchased the property and partnered with the Historic Virginia Land Conservancy. The ground was purchased by the County, but then placed in a special conservancy to protect both it’s past and future.
Elizabeth Friel, executive director of the organization, says the goal is to ensure the land remains farmland, permanently.
“Conservation uniquely offers forever. A conservation easement is in perpetuity. If someone farms it, it’s certainly up to them to continue to farm it. We guarantee that,” Friel says.
Under the easement, the land is restricted to agriculture or forestry use, with no residential or commercial development allowed.
“The only thing that can ever be allowed here is farming or forestry and small things associated with that,” she says. “No houses, no development.”
A Working Farm with Living History
For farmer David Hula, the significance of the land is something he thinks about every season he plants.
“You think Jamestown right over there, and Captain John Smith, Pocahontas,” Hula says. “Was she running around here barefoot, just running in the fields? When we think about planting here, it does go back. This is the oldest farm ground in the U.S., and we’re fortunate to be farming it.”
Hula has farmed this ground for more than 30 years using modern no-till practices, but the history surrounding it has also created something unexpected: connection with the public.
Located near a busy bike and walking trail, the farm has become a place where agriculture and curiosity intersect.
“We’ll be harvesting and there’ll be a dad and his kids there. All the equipment’s got a buddy seat, so we’ll stop and say, ‘Hey, you want to ride?’ And I’ve had kids come back with their kids since we’ve been here. That’s kind of neat,” Hula adds.
For Hula, continuing to farm the land is as much about stewardship as production.
“As long as the county is willing to let somebody farm it and we have the chance, yeah, we’ll continue to farm it,” he says.
A Living Link to America’s Past
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Mainland Farm stands as a rare example of continuity. This land is where history is not just preserved in books or museums, but still actively growing in the soil.
Here, early settlers worked the land. Revolutionary soldiers once crossed its fields. And today, farmers continue to plant, harvest, and steward the same ground more than 400 years later. In a country defined by change, Mainland Farm remains something unusual: a place where the past is not gone, it’s still in production today.
