Our Story
Since 1953, the Williamson family has owned and operated a 200+ acre farm as the city of Murfreesboro, Tennessee has grown around it.
Their history began with Mark Williamson’s father, Mark Bascom Williamson, “Bascom,” who was born in 1917 in Milton, Tennessee.
Bascom graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Agriculture. He began law school which was cut short by WWII when he enlisted in the armed forces, serving as a radio operator. After the war he continued to serve in the agricultural restoration of Japan, Korea and the Philippine Islands, where he served as the Chief Agricultural Engineer under General McArthur.
During the post war period, he met a lovely Japanese lady, Mitsue Matsubara, whom he courted, married and brought back to Milton, landing there in 1953. He quickly found a roughly 220 acre farm located on Manson Pike on the west side of Murfreesboro which he purchased and began a Grade “B” dairy operation.
The land was rough and he spent the next 4 decades improving it, along with his herd, clearing trees, laying fences and “bustin’ up rocks” the old fashioned way with a sledge hammer and pick axe. He quickly converted to Grade “A” dairy and went on to groom several prize winning Holstein milk producing cows. Not to be outdone, Mitsue also worked from sun up to sun down, excelling in all things farming, cooking, gardening and sewing, to mention only a few of her many talents.
Both children, Toni and Mark, left the farm after high school, leaving their parents to continue their careers while the children pursued theirs. Toni became a social worker for the state of Georgia, working for 30 years with various social programs. Mark pursued a medical degree and became an orthopedic surgeon in North Carolina. Although Mark “Bascom” stopped milking in 1988, he continued to run heifers on the property for other farmers before eventually closing that operation and leasing the land for grain and crop farming. After his passing in 2004, Mitsue continued to live on the farm until around 2012.
When Toni and Mark inherited their parents’ farm, they continued to lease the farm for row cropping but they always had a burning flame of heritage and legacy regarding the land. Toni and Mark watched Murfreesboro and Rutherford County grow… and grow… and grow. Houses, subdivisions, businesses, schools, churches and roads multiplied at the expense of farms, fields and forests. The biggest question they faced was “What would dad and mom do?”
Toni and Mark recognized their parents’ values of selflessness, servant leadership and sacrifice for the greater good. They had the vision… they just didn’t know it. What they saw in the farm was a place of respite from the busy-ness of everyday life. They felt the tug of the soil begging for a return to agrarian eco-friendly farming for education and exploration. They spent time wandering through the barns, feeling the wood and putting their feet in the hoof prints of the cows who were there 70 years earlier. They knew they could share this experience, even in a small way, by developing the property into a place of enjoyment for groups large and small. They soon found themselves on a mission to create an agritainment agribusiness venture.
Mark’s youngest son, John Mark, has returned to the farm as the third Williamson generation. He currently serves as Agricultural Manager and Operations Manager. The entire Williamson Family welcomes you to come and enjoy the magic of Williamson Family Farm!
Mark & Toni
Owners, Williamson Family Farm