Our family is proud to grow fresh fruit and create fine wines for you.
Williamson's Celebrates 100 Years of Family Farming
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| Lillian (Williamson) Gammon next to the homestead house after the windmill was built. |
The farm was homesteaded in 1909 by Lillian (Williamson) and her husband George E. Gammon. They had no irrigation or well at the time and water was hauled from the Snake River by wagon to water the livestock and to nuture the poplar trees surrounding their house. Today, a hundred years later, two of these trees are still standing (one can be seen in the background of the family picture below).
As soon as possible a well was dug. George did this by hand, hauling buckets of dirt out of the hole with ropes and pulleys. In November of 1915 they installed a windmill and built two large concrete cisterns to reserve water. These cisterns were used when there wasn’t enough wind to draw water up. In 1916 the Lake Lowell Reservoir was finally completed and irrigation water was accessible to farms. The homestead was starting to flourish and in 1920, after a bumper potato crop, the Gammon’s planted some of the first cherry and apple trees in the Sunny Slope.
| This sign always worked like a charm, but sometimes the peaches would go "missing." Maybe that's why people kept coming out to get their fruit! |  |
In 1942 Henry Williamson, Lillian’s nephew, bought a portion of the farm from the Gammon’s as they had no children and George was unable to care for the orchard by himself. Henry turned out to be quite the farmer, growing tomatoes and potatoes in addition to tree fruit. In 1945 Jack Williamson, Lillian's nephew from Virginia, moved to Sunnyslope to help Henry on the farm.
In 1947 Jack married Evelyn Pease, of Wilder, and together they moved into a little house and worked on the farm. Later that year Henry Williamson died and Jack and Evelyn purchased his portion of the farm from his estate. Later Jack would also inherit Lillian’s portion of the farm after she passed away in 1959.
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| Young Roger & John Williamson learning the peach business. |
Jack and Evelyn raised three children. After their two sons, Roger and John, finished their educations they returned to raise their families and help expand the farm. The original homestead of 80 acres has now grown to over 700 acres of fruit and row crop. In addition to apples and cherries the family has added a wide variety of soft fruits like peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums and pluots.In 1998, in an effort to diversify the family business, the Williamson’s planted their first grape vineyards through a contract with a local winery. As a family they decided to take the next step and start producing their own wines. The first wine released was a 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon.
In 1998, in an effort to diversify the family business, the Williamson’s planted their first grape vineyards through a contract with a local winery. As a family they decided to take the next step and start producing their own wines. The first wine released was a 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon.
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| This picture represents four generations of Williamsons. The photo was taken in front of one of the 100 year old Poplar trees as well as the old water cistern that Lillian and George built. |
As the Williamson family grows so does the business. Roger’s children, Michael and Beverly, have also returned to the farm. John’s son Patrick is finishing his education in wine making and will hopefully become the farms resident winemaker. Four generations of Williamson’s have worked the farm and they hope to continue the tradition set by Lillian and George to be good stewards to the land for generations to come.