One of Carbon County’s generational farms was honored Friday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.

Fairyland Farms in Franklin Township received the Century Farms Award. The farm, owned by the same family for 100 years, was one of seven farms to receive the award this year.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the original 110.8 acres of Fairyland Farms was purchased by Robert and Christiana Diehl on March 29, 1922, for $6,000. The Diehls’ great-great-grandson Luke Graver said they bought the farm from a family member who had owned it for a short time.

The couple had owned a smaller farm in the area where Beltzville Dam now lies, Graver said. They sold it to buy a farm with more land.

Over the years, the couple grew the farm to include more than 1,200 acres through the purchase of neighboring farms. And Robert Diehl went on to receive the honorary degree of Master Farmer at the 1939 Pennsylvania Farm Show.

“This was a very big deal at the time,” Graver said.

At its height, the farm employed 40 full-time employees. A calendar from 1946 called it, “A modern farm of 1,200 acres. Famous Fairyland Farms. 300 head dairy cows. 200 head beef cattle. 800 hog herd. 10,000 broad breasted bronze and white Holland turkeys.”

Graver said his great-great-grandparents named it Fairyland Farms, because, “Robert Diehl was a little like Walt Disney. He wanted it to be a magical place where people could come and enjoy themselves.”

And they did.

People went there and had picnics, listened to music, and got ice cream at the Fairyland Farms Butcher Shop and Dairy Bar Store. The farm hosted notable singers such as June Carter, before she married Johnny Cash. She sang as a teenager with the Carter Family. The farm also had its own baseball team called the Fairyland Farm Cardinals, Graver said.

Robert died fairly young in the 1950s, but Christiana continued to run the farm and the store with her daughter, Kathryn, and son, Willis, and their spouses.

When Christiana died in 1976, Kathryn and her husband, John Miller, acquired the original 110.8 acres and an additional 90 acres. Their part of the farm also included the store and most of the buildings.

Kathryn and John had one son, Robert, who met his wife, Fern, during a 4-H extension trip. She was from Kresgeville, and was also a member of 4-H, Graver said. They went on to have four children: Danadee Miller-Boyle, Diane Miller-Graver, Deanna Wentz and Dean Miller.

“My family laid the foundation of 4-H in Carbon County,” Graver said. His grandfather, Robert Miller, was a 4-H leader for 50 years, and won the grand champion Angus steer in 1954 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Today, Fairyland Farms is owned by Robert and Fern’s three daughters, Graver and his, cousin, Sarah (Miller) Keiser.

“To me it’s an accomplishment as a family that we can say that we have lived and farmed on this piece of ground for a century,” Graver said. “I wish my grandfather could have been here today. He would have enjoyed it. His whole life was the farm.”

Robert passed away in 2020, but his wife Fern was able to join 20 other family members to receive the award in Harrisburg.

“For these farms that have stayed in the same family for 100 or more years, they’re more than just real estate, they are family heritage, and economic opportunity for the future,” said Shannon Powers, the press secretary for the state DOA.

Graver said that although their farm qualified for the award last year, they wanted to wait until the Pennsylvania Farm Show to receive the award, because 4-H and the farm show have been such an important part of his family’s history.

Graver said his great-grandmother Kathryn (Diehl) Miller would have been 107 years old on Wednesday, the same age as the farm show.

State Rep. Doyle Heffley said, “Fairyland Farms has been a part of Carbon County history for a century, and today I was able to celebrate with them at the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show. This six-generation family farm is an awesome example to grit, hard work and family values.”

Graver said he’s the fifth generation, but he has three daughters he plans to raise in 4-H. They are members of the farm’s sixth generation.