Our Agricultural Heritage

The economy of New Knoxville and the surrounding rural area has always been rooted deeply in agriculture. The economy has evolved from the time when the German immigrants came and had to clear forest land to cultivate and harvest food for their families. Each family was essentially self sufficient. As time went on, families helped their neighbors with harvesting and other tasks, and they gradually became more reliant on each other and the community. Businesses were started in the village of New Knoxville, giving the farmers an outlet for their excess production of eggs, milk, meat, etc. Village residents, many of whom kept a cow and some chickens in a barn behind the house, were able to purchase their necessities in stores or have milk delivered from the dairy directly to their homes. Farming gradually became more specialized into dairy farms, hog farms, poultry farms, etc. As farming techniques changed and plant and animal nutrition improved, farmers could farm more acres and could equip themselves for more livestock. Today we have farmers in the New Knoxville area who farm a thousand or more acres, and agriculture is still a very large portion of our local economy.