The Farm (Tennessee)
Coordinates: 35°29′5″N 87°19′52″W / 35.48472°N 87.33111°W
The Farm is an intentional community in Lewis County, Tennessee, near the town of Summertown, Tennessee, based on principles of nonviolence and respect for the Earth. It was founded in 1971 by Stephen Gaskin, and 300 spiritual seekers from Haight Ashbury and San Francisco. The Farm is well known among hippies and members of the counter culture and around the world as the home of modern midwifery. It is widely respected for its many nonprofits, including Plenty International, a relief and development organization, and Swan Conservation Trust, who established the 1400 acre Big Swan Headwaters Preserve. The Farm has approximately 200 members and residents.
The Farm was established after Stephen Gaskin and friends led a caravan of 60 buses, vans, and trucks from San Francisco on a four-month speaking tour across the US. Along the way, they became a community, lacking only in land to put down roots. After returning to California, the decision was made to buy land together. Combining all their resources would finance purchase of only about fifty acres in California. Another month on the road brought the group back to Tennessee, where they checked out various places that might be suitable to settle. They decided on property in Lewis County, about seventy miles south of Nashville. After buying 1,064 acres (4.1 km2) for $70 per acre, the group began building its community in the woods alongside the network of crude logging roads that followed its ridgelines. Shortly thereafter, an adjoining 750 acres (3.0 km2) were purchased for $100 per acre.
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