We present the history of the 120-year-old Moss Farm of Sand Run, in Upshur County, West Virginia, USA—the first history of a single-family Appalachian farm in the scholarly literature, of which we are aware. From the late 1800s until the end of the 20th Century, the Moss family played a key role in helping to establish and develop the community of Sand Run. We describe the Moss family’s migration from the Shenandoah Valley to the Sand Run area in the late Antebellum Period, the family’s divided loyalties during the American Civil War, the family’s early contributions to the Sand Run community, the farm’s founding in 1903, its decline in the second half of the 20th Century, and the farm’s redevelopment in the Post-Global War on Terror era. Sources included oral history interviews conducted by the first author, primary source documents, artifacts, locally produced scholarship, and peer-reviewed articles retrieved from Project MUSE® and JSTOR®. Scholarly literature on Appalachia and farming has very significant gaps, especially concerning histories of farms and farm families. Exploration of the history of the Moss Farm provides an Appalachian example of hyper-local commerce centered around well-known farmers who were also community leaders. It may be helpful for the Moss Farm and others who can leverage these features to concentrate on them in marketing efforts, as it is unreasonable for small farms to compete with large sellers. Farms with different dynamics may wish to investigate their relevant historical marketing and purchasing trends and consider potential modern applicability.
