Historic Pharis Farm

This interactive, outdoor museum was established in 1927 within a historic farmstead that dates back to 1836. The site hosts events that teach children and the public about historic farming practices and rural life in the 19th century. The farmstead was established by a son of a veteran of the American Revolution in 1836. The land was later purchased by Donald Pharis in 1927 who restored the farm and buildings on the property and turned the area into an educational space for students. Pharis also helped to establish the Clay County Historical Society and its museum in Liberty, Missouri. The Clay County Historical Society still runs the Historic Pharis Farm and puts on events there that include educational events and musical guests.

In 1836, the son of a Revolutionary War veteran Fielding Bell, along with his wife and eight children, migrated to Clay County, Missouri from Mason County, Kentucky by steamboat. They established a farm on their land a few miles north of the Missouri River and built a log cabin where the family would live in one room together. When Fielding passed away, his eldest son Daniel Bell took over the farm and, in the mid-to-late 1840s, began construction on the Greek Revival-style house that still sits on the land and is now known as the Bell-Pharis House. He was a respected farmer and businessman who was known for being the president of the Missouri City Savings Bank and a proprietor of E.D. Bell & Sons Dry Goods and Clothing Store.

The farm stayed in the Bell family until 1927 when Donald Pharis and his first wife, a schoolteacher named Helen, purchased the farm for $100 an acre. Mr. Pharis, as he was known in his community, was born on July 8th, 1896 in Butler, Missouri and grew up on his family’s farm. He studied agriculture at the University of Missouri and went on to teach vocational agriculture in Harrisonville and Richmond, Missouri for fourteen years. When he purchased the Bell family’s farm, he gave up teaching to farm full time but he was still passionate about education. He was a founding member of the Clay County Soil and Water Conservation District and served as its president. He was also active in Future Farmers and America (FFA) and 4H, for which he loaned out his own animals. He was also passionate about water and soil conservation and was the first farmer in Clay County to terrace his fields. Terracing was an agricultural practice developed after the Dust Bowl that includes “digging long ditches to prevent water runoff from accumulating and eroding the soil and crops.” Farmers from all around came to learn terracing from Mr. Pharis.

His passion for education didn’t just end there, though. By 1945, Mr. Pharis and Helen adopted their son Charles Fox Pharis II but twelve years later, Helen passed away. The following year, in 1958, Mr. Pharis married his second wife, Laura, who was also a schoolteacher. She continued helping Mr. Pharis with restoring the farm and coming up with educational programs for students. In 1959, they began hosting students and visitors in order to educate the public about historic and modern farming practices as well as colonial life. Children would learn about these topics through hayrides, rolling bales of hay, handling baby animals, and the antiques the couple collected which included farming equipment and household items.

In 1974, Mr. Pharis acquired a log cabin in Richmond, Missouri from about 1820 and had it relocated to the farm. This one room log cabin would have been very similar to the cabin the Bell family lived in when they first settled on the land in 1836. It had to be carefully reconstructed on the property. Mr. Pharis also had the fireplace reconstructed, added a loft which would have been typical of loft cabins at the time, and added concrete flooring for preservation purposes. They used the log cabin to show visitors how colonial-era families would have lived, once again using antiques from the era to portray this. Mr. Pharis wanted the farm to continue being used for educational purposes, and it continues to host events for guests and students to learn about farming and the colonial era to this day.

Tuesday's Speaker: Historic Pharis Farm, Gladstone Rotary Club. Accessed September 22nd, 2022. https://gladstonerotary.org/stories/tuesday-s-speaker-historic-pharis-farm/.

Friends of the Pharis Farm. Donald C. Pharis: Humanitarian, YouTube. June 28th, 2022. Accessed September 22nd, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2hTOKMdRGE.

Bell-Pharis House, Historical Marker Database. Accessed September 22nd, 2022. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=80964.

Missouri Humanities Grant received by Friends of the Pharis Farm, Courier Tribune. January 24th, 2022. Accessed September 22nd, 2022. https://www.mycouriertribune.com/community_living/missouri-humanities-grant-received-by-friends-of-the-pharis-farm/article_01f4c8a0-7d2b-11ec-998b-07d4b2e25cf9.html.

Friends of the Pharis Farm. Friends of the Pharis Farm Membership Application, Clay County Missouri. Accessed September 22nd, 2022. https://www.claycountymo.gov/application/files/6815/4403/6963/pharis_friend_ap_2017.pdf.