In 1790, Thomas Varney and his wife Susannah moved from Rochester, New Hampshire to what was called New Durham Gore - a name derived from the rocky terrain carved into the local mountains including Mt. Major.  The 1790 census reported 445 residents.  Thomas and Susannah built a house, farmed the land, and raised a family.   Years went by, the the kids grew up and moved away, and the land went back to forest. In 1796, after eight petitions to the Court, the name was changed to Alton.

In 1977, Thomas Varney and his wife LuAnne also moved from Rochester, New Hampshire, to the Town of Alton and built a house, farmed the land, and raised a family. The years went by and the kids grew up and moved away. But this time, we wanted the homestead story to continue - differently. So, in 2005 we started talking about planting some of the old pasture with Christmas trees; and for 5 years, from 2006 to 2011, we spent time in the spring planting 500 trees each year. Every year after that we pruned the trees and weed whacked the brush around them. It seemed as if they would never get big at all. Eventually, through rain and drought and lots of sun the trees finally look like real Christmas Trees and we are ready to offer them for sale.

By the way, you may be wondering, "That's an unusual logo for a Christmas Tree Farm!"  Well, that's because like most homesteaders, we wear many hats and we have another family business: Varney Engineering, LLC