Sarah Orne Jewett House
W.B. Ross House
By the mid-nineteenth century, small family homestead farms were widespread in Southern Maine towns like South Berwick. Families grew crops to feed themselves and their animals. Surpluses might be sold locally.
The advent of the railroad made possible the transport of farm products from large agricultural operations in the Midwest. Industrialization further outmoded small farms, as Maine farming became specialized and mechanized.
Small family farms remained a way of life for some, though less commonplace than they once were.