Wilbraham’s Forgotten Industries: Tobacco, Dairy, and Sheep

Wilbraham’s past is often told through its farms, mills, and village life, but a closer look reveals a surprising variety of industries that once shaped the town’s economy. Among the most notable was the growing of tobacco, which flourished for a brief but productive period during the mid-nineteenth century.

From about 1850 to 1880, tobacco farming became an important seasonal enterprise, particularly along West Street, today's Stony Hill Road. Many local farmers devoted small parcels of land, often just one to five acres, to the crop, and the results were generally rewarding. Each autumn, as the leaves reached stripping time, buyers from Hartford and nearby Connecticut towns would travel north to inspect the fields. Deals were often made on the spot, with growers agreeing to deliver their cured tobacco directly to the dealer’s place of business.

Tobacco shed with laths full of tobacco leaves ready to hang in Windsor, CT. Photo by William S. Leek.

Late in the fall, it was a familiar sight to see two or three wagons, each pulled by a pair of horses, traveling together toward destinations such as Warehouse Point or Windsor Locks. The tobacco grown in Wilbraham tended to be dark in color, well-suited to earlier market demands. Over time, however, cigar manufacturers began favoring lighter-colored leaf for wrappers. Since local soil and conditions did not produce that shade, demand gradually declined, and tobacco raising in Wilbraham eventually came to an end.

Dairying also played an important role in the town’s agricultural history. Around 1866, a cheese factory was built on the south side of Springfield Street, just east of where Pole Bridge Brook crosses the road (140 Springfield Street). The land was then owned by Edwin B. Brewer and later by Mrs. F. A. Gurney. For several years, the factory provided a steady outlet for milk produced by farms in the surrounding area. Despite its promise, the venture proved unprofitable and was abandoned after only a few years. The building itself was later destroyed by fire.

A second cheese factory was established in North Wilbraham not long afterward, though it met a similar fate. While cheese production failed, the building endured. It later became home to F. A. Fuller’s general store (2825 Boston Road), with its upper floor serving as a public hall until about 1890, is a reminder of how these industrial spaces often evolved to meet community needs.

Following the decline of local cheese manufacturing, milk production continued to grow. For a decade or more, large quantities were shipped to the Springfield Milk Association, with daily deliveries reaching as high as twelve hundred quarts, much of it coming from West Street farms. This expansion was reflected in the number of cows in town, which rose from 475 in 1881 to 654 by 1890. After that peak, numbers steadily declined, falling to 398 by 1913. Even so, some milk continued to be sent to Springfield, while local demand was met by nearby farms.

Sheep raising, once widespread, experienced even greater fluctuations. In 1771, Wilbraham counted 704 sheep. By 1838, that number had grown to 2,292. The industry then collapsed dramatically, dropping to just 86 sheep in 1881, and dwindling to single digits by the turn of the twentieth century. By 1912, sheep had disappeared from the town altogether.

These shifting industries, tobacco fields, cheese factories, dairies, and flocks of sheep- tell a larger story of Wilbraham’s adaptability. They reflect changing markets, evolving agricultural practices, and the willingness of local farmers to follow opportunity wherever it led, even when success proved temporary.