Jefferson, GA

Shields Ethridge Heritage Farm

Welcome to the Shields-Ethridge Heritage Farm. Since 1799, this farm has remained agriculturally productive. Over the course of the two centuries, the Shields and Ethridge families adapted to larger trends in upcountry Georgia agriculture, from the first crops of tobacco to the planting of cotton and grains, and then cattle grazing. The story of the farm begins when our nation was new at the end of the 18th century and continues today as we celebrate the history and heritage of agriculture in northeast Georgia. Two hundred years of working the land, family growth, and technological progress shape what you see before you. From about 1899 to 1909 Ira Washington Ethridge constructed these buildings, transforming the farm into a bustling center of social and economic activity in Jackson County, Georgia. Today the farm complex is quiet and open for your exploration but take a moment to stop and imagine wagons rolling by, the smell of freshly plowed soil, and hum of farm activity