Michigan historical commission marks this farmhouse

Farmhouse at former city outskirts of Grand Rapids-(click image for full-size view)

Farms operated for 100 years by the same family (3 or 4 generations, in most cases) are marked with plaques, usually not much bigger than a sheet of letter-size paper on a post within sight of the road edge. But this one gives a more detailed recounting of the significance of the location and its residents. In other parts of the world with far longer records of occupation, probably 150 years would not be of special interest or meaning, by comparison.

Immigrant countries like USA, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, and so on view the connections to the land and history differently to the societies where relationships to the past, to ancestors, and the land worked by those people is long-standing or perhaps taken for granted; not worthy of plaques or other official recognition by the local government. A major theme among immigrants is economic advantage; bettering your economic (and possibly social) status in the new country in exchange for giving up claims, meanings, and connections to the old country. As a result of this strong urge to succeed in material terms, many immigrants move from place to place to seize better work opportunities, rather than to commit to the community and social relations of just one locale. So the number of farms with many generations holding ownership is rare enough to acknowledge the fact with "Centennial Farm" plaques (100 years of ownership and active agricultural production) or this one telling the story of an early resident on this rural land that now has been surrounded by the expanding city boundaries and house-building of WWII and afterward to accommodate the Baby Boom generation.

Update: current owner removed this marker in 2020