Tackley Farm (Valley View)

The house at Tackley Farm was constructed in 1840 of brick made on the property from local materials. The two-story house was built in the Greek Revival style and has seen minimal alterations; the exceptions are that a two-story gallery on the rear of the house was enclosed in the 1950s to create more living space and a one-story wooden addition was added to the back in 1982. The interior of the home retains most of its original architectural features. 

The original owner of the land was Col. Richard Blackburn who migrated from England and acquired 2,000 acres in 1754. Michael Blue leased 150 acres from Blackburn in 1777. The Blue family was very representative of European migration into the upper Shenandoah Valley in the colonial period. The family immigrated from Holland in the 1600s and farmed in New York and New Jersey. In the 1750s brothers Michael and Uriah Blue served with William Blackburn, son of Col. Richard Blackburn, under Col. John Armstrong during the French and Indian War. Blackburn told the brothers about the farming opportunities in what was then Frederick County, Virginia. When Michael Blue leased the land from Col. Blackburn he started to develop the land and built a home and farm buildings. Blue’s original bank barn was later incorporated in the large barn complex. He became successful enough that he bought his 150 acres from another son of Col. Blackburn, Thomas, in 1795 and started acquiring other nearby property. Michael Blue’s son, Joel, built the brick farmhouse in the mid-nineteenth century. The farm passed from the Blue family in 1849.

The property has been continuously used as a farm since the eighteenth century. In the 1930s, Tackley Farm transitioned to the dairy business. In 1935 O. M. Merchant purchased the farm and produced milk, as well as raised turkeys and harvested grain and hay. He altered and expanded the barn to suit milk cows and meet new regulations in the dairy industry. He also added a cooling house for the milk. The barn saw additions in both the 1930s and 1950s to make a much bigger barn complex.

"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form--Tackley Farm." Accessed November 3, 2020. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/94001286.pdf.