Town begins to reimagine the future of former tobacco farm with ties to MLK

SIMSBURY — Surrounded by unassuming residential neighborhoods on the north side of Simsbury lies an expansive parcel of rolling fields and forestland intertwined with the history of the Civil Rights movement.

This land, known locally as Meadowood, was once a thriving tobacco farm, one that Martin Luther King Jr. himself worked on for two summers as a teenager, and tells a story of how Connecticut, and this town, opened up King to a world beyond the Jim Crow South.

For years, the property had been mostly abandoned, but in recent months, local leaders and students at the University of Connecticut have become driving forces in reimagining the future of the site, as the town and state considers how to best preserve the history and natural environment that lives on that land.

Following a local movement to prevent the housing development that was slated for the site, the town acquired the property for $2.5 million in 2021 for open space preservation.

“That was really lovely to see the support for purchase of this open space,” said Margery Winters, chair of the Simsbury Conservation Commission. “Now, we have to do a good job of preserving what is special about that place.”

During both World Wars, tobacco growers in Connecticut recruited thousands of seasonal laborers from around the country and the world to keep their farms running while much of their typical workforce was away fighting, according to the town website. A partnership with a Georgia college sent students north to work in these fields and earn money for tuition, one of whom was King.

When he was in Simsbury in the 1940s, King wrote letters to his family back home about the cultural differences of being in the northeast, where he experienced integration for the first time, historical records show.

“After that summer in Connecticut, it was a bitter feeling going back to segregation,” King had wrote, according to records.

While residents still enjoy seeing the vast open space and natural beauty of the site, not much has been done to the site in the years since the town’s acquisition of the property besides minor maintenance. But momentum has grown as landscape architecture students at UConn were tasked with brainstorming potential ideas for the site as part of their senior capstone project.

“It’s really about generating excitement for the site and imagining where it might fit into various agendas or various possible futures, for agriculture, conservation, recreation, and the historical pieces of it,” said Jill Desmini, associate professor and director of plant science and landscape architecture at UConn. But also, of course, to give students that learning experience, she added, at the sam eti me that the town is working on their own plans for the property.

Students recently presented some of their ideas for the site’s future at the Simsbury Public Library, to numerous community members and town officials in attendance, showcasing ideas from trails to flower fields and bird sanctuaries to giant stone memorials.

“And with the will of the public, they could be reality,” said Simsbury Pollinator Pathway President Nancy Grandin, who has been closely working with the town and students on brainstorming ideas for the site.

The ideas presented on Feb. 21 were a reminder of the site’s potential, said Tom Tyburski, Simsbury’s director of culture, parks and recreation, and agreed they could even be used as inspiration for the concepts to be considered down the line.

The students are among the many other groups, including the Trust for Public Land, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Simsbury Pollinator Pathway Group, and the Town of Simsbury, who are working on the next steps for Meadowood’s conservation future and bringing life back into the site, Tyburski said.

“We saved it from developers for a reason,” said Simsbury Selectwoman Diana Yeisley. “And having something that is not only sustainable, but something that is preserved, both for historical purposes, as well as for nature and conservation purposes, is really important to the town.”

The aforementioned agencies are currently working together on the earliest stages of the project, which includes plans to restore some of the historic tobacco barns and sheds on the property, one of which has the signatures of King’s classmates.

“There’s so much history on these lands, you know, you can kind of feel it,” said UConn Senior Richie Patai.

While some sheds have fallen down and deteriorated over the years, there are four tobacco barns that are stabilized right now, Tyburski said. And two of them will likely be restored, which the town and state are collaborating on, and have had architects look at to see how any grant money coming in may be used, he said.

Some students envisioned the sheds becoming onsite museums, with historical documents and educational materials available for visitors to view. Tyburski said that based on what was being discussed now, the barns might be able to be opened up for special events, but the vast majority of historical exhibits would likely be on the outside.

UConn Senior Andrew Simmons said when he first saw Meadowood, he felt like it was lacking, and hoped to see a future version that told the story of the site’s legacy.

“It was missing something,” he said. “We need something to show that all of this happened.”

The Town of Simsbury has 24 acres set aside for future municipal needs, some of which has been discussed as athletic fields, and two acres are designated for historic preservation, including interpretive elements that share the special history of the land.

The State of Connecticut also has an easement for recreational access on nearly 130 acres, and about 120 acres preserved as working farmland. Currently, one of the parcels is leased to a farmer growing barley for craft beer, Tyburski said. Another farmer rents barn space for drying tobacco, he said.

And the town uses the revenue from those rentals for open space maintenance and preservation, Tyburski said, which will be put towards restoring the sheds.

But as for the rest of the land, a large focus of revitalizing Meadowood will be on passive recreation, like multi-use trails and restoring plants and species, Tyburski said.

Because Meadowood sits between the Great Pond section of Massacoe State Forest and the 4,400-acre McLean Game Refuge, its preservation has created the opportunity for an expansive network of new trails and access points for hiking and exploration. That connection would link more than 5,000 acres of wildlife-rich land in the Farmington River Watershed, creating the second largest contiguous green space in the state’s portion of the Connecticut River Watershed, according to the Simsbury Land Trust.

“By linking two already protected lands, we’ll create a natural corridor that will maintain safe passage for wildlife,” according to the SLT.

Grandin said she would love to see a pollinator sanctuary com eto fruition, as it is also a vital stretch for birds that meadow-hop up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

Another goal for Meadowood is for it to be included in the Connecticut Freedom Trail, a network of sites that celebrate the accomplishments of the state’s African American community and promote heritage tourism.

“Obviously, it’s important to the town of Simsbury, but its importance really transcends the town boundaries,” Desimini said. “It’s also a capacity to celebrate Black history within the state of Connecticut.”

Most of the UConn students said they never would’ve known about the history of the site if it weren’t for the class and this project. “Like, Martin Luther King was actually here, and nobody knows about that,” Patai said.

With no funding in place right now for anything other than lawn mowing part of the land, the revitalization of Meadowood is still just beginning, Tyburski said.

He said he hoped there would be efforts over the next year to start a planning process for the property. However, there was a lot of competing priorities for town projects right now, and that process alone could take a few years. “But there’s little pieces moving slowly.”

Yeisley said that with the current tough budget, action on Meadowood would likely materialize as small steps before putting capital money or reserves into a larger project.

“But there’s certainly things that we can start on a smaller basis that could be done in the next, you know, one to three years before we get to a three to five and five to 10 year projects on the larger scale,” she said.

For now, Tyburski said the town would continue to farm the land and preserve its heritage.

Financing is always an issue, Winters said, and added that they really just needed to get community consensus on what people want to see here.

“What’s needed is a groundswell of support from the public,” Grandin said, “saying we need to do this.”