Marked early as farmland for its rich, deep red clay soil, Eddy Farm first took shape in the late 18th century when the land was purchased by Captain Martin Kellogg. Originally of Deerfield, MA, Kellogg was kidnapped as a child by Iroquois and taken along with his brother and sister to Canada where he lived among his captors for some years. Upon his release as a young adult, he arrived in Newington with a plan to build a school for Native American boys.

Over the generations the farm changed hands many times, and its borders ebbed and flowed. By the early 1900s, the farm comprised about 280 acres on both sides of Cedar St, the main house on Willard now just down the street from Newington High School. Built in 1808, the ‘Kellogg Eddy House’ now belongs to the Newington Historical Society. E Welles and Clara Eddy were the owners with a herd of Guernseys and a dairy operation, which was common in this area at the time. Roger W. Eddy, the youngest of three children, was the last of the Eddy family to grow up in that house.

When the Americans joined WWII, Roger was in college at Yale. He left for war with the 10th Mountain Division, accelerating his graduation. He fought in Kiska, in the Aleutians, and then in the Italian Alps, achieving the rank of Major and the attentions of one very pretty Red Cross Girl, Deborah Bankart. When he returned from the war, he had a wife, a dog, and was given a piece of the family land. They farmed and lived here, raising their daughters Heidi and Lucy and selling produce at the farm stand beginning in 1960. 

Lucy took over the farm upon the death of her parents, and working tirelessly with the Town of Newington, achieved the preservation of the land as open space. Privately owned and operated, our farm can never be developed beyond agricultural use, and it will remain a green gem of fields and forest in its decidedly urban setting.

Lucy's daughter Haley and her husband Andy took over operation of the farm in 2011. They are proud to be the next generation to be stewards of this land rich in family lore.