H.W. Frye Homeplace

The Wardensville Garden Market is a non-profit farm launched with a private foundation grant in 2016 and is dedicated to encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit of local youth through small-scale sustainable farming. They currently employ almost a dozen paid Farm Assistants who are East Hardy High School students or recent grads. All of the produce and plants grown on the farm are from heirloom and/or organic seeds and are raised using sustainable and organic agriculture techniques.
The farm property has been in the Frye family (one of the founding families of Wardensville) since the mid-1800’s and was part of the original land surveyed and laid-off by a young George Washington. According to family members, it was known as the “H.W. Frye Homeplace.”
In 1893, Henry W. Frye gave 221 acres to his son John, who then transferred the property to his three children, Marshall, Homer and Laura. In 1909, Homer and Marshall bought Laura’s share and split the property into two pieces with Marshall owning 98 acres, which is the property where the garden and market are located today. In 1917, Marshall died and deeded it to his children, Laura, Paul, John and Opal. The farm was then passed down to two more generations, before it was transformed into the Wardensville Garden Market. The last resident of the farmhouse was Violette (Frye) Lafollette who was nicknamed “Tommie”.
Directions: 28133 SR 55, Wardensville (Located at the intersection of SR259 and HWY55/48)
Open Courtesy of: Donald Hitchcock and Paul Yandura