Harris Farm
Mesa County
In 1900 John Harris purchased 160 acres near Collbran in Mesa County from the original homesteader who first worked the land in 1892. Harris produced alfalfa, corn, wheat, and pinto beans and raised livestock including milk cows, pigs, horses, sheep, chickens, turkeys, honey bees, and a few beef cattle.
Hundred-year-old appletrees on the Harris Farm.
In 1904 he built a house and cellar that are still in use today along with the 1940s machine shed, outhouse, chicken house, and sheep shed. Harris Farm has always had a large garden, berries, and fruit trees; some of the apple trees are over 100 years old.
The original log cabin, torn down in the early 1900s. Elsie Harris is on the right.
The land was passed down from Howard and Eleanor to Adelbert Harris. Today the farm is owned by Barbara Harris Sanchez and Manuel Sanchez, who make cider and preserves from the fruits and vegetables grown on the farm and rent the rest of the land for hay and livestock ranching.