Anchored by an elegant c.1911 farmhouse with both Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style details, the Gray Farmstead represents a specific period in the history of Wisconsin agriculture, the industrial dairying era. This era, extending during the first several decades of the twentieth century, was a time of expansion of dairy farms. By this time, most farmers in Wisconsin were dairying, but to meet the growing needs of large new milk plants, creameries, and cheese factories, farmers were increasing their herds of milk cows. This increase led to larger dairy barns and the addition of better silos and other structures that could store the feed necessary for milk cow production in winter months.

The Gray Farmstead, with its Wisconsin Dairy Barn, concrete silo, and other outbuildings, reflects William Gray’s ambition to create a modern dairy farm of this era. Already a farmer since the 1860s, Gray was knowledgeable of the type of buildings he would need for his new farmstead closer to Milton. Actually “downsizing” from a 200-acre farm to the 80-acre farm attached to this farmstead, Gray knew he could make a comparable profit from a smaller dairy operation if he had modern facilities. What Gray created on this farmstead stands as an artifact of Wisconsin history, one that is important to preserve as farmsteads are being lost throughout the state.

This farmstead is private property. Please respect the rights and privacy of the owners.