NORWICH – The Chenango County Historical Society will host a presentation on Tarbell Farms – once located in the Town of Smithville – at 7 tonight at the First Baptist Church, 10 West Park Place.

Once the largest producer of Guernsey milk in the northeast, the Tarbell Estate – which covered over 3,300 acres – was composed of five distinct farms, according to historian Don Windsor. In 1961, the Tarbells were raising over 500 purebred Guernsey cattle, in addition to horses, swine, sheep and chickens.

Prior to its sale in 1962, the Tarbells’ rich, creamy milk was shipped by rail to a number of high-scale restaurants in New York City, said Windsor. In 1967, the farms were torn down, although some of relics remain as historical evidence of its existence.

Tonight’s presentation will feature before and after photographs of the Tarbell Estate, and CCHS Director Alan Estus said its a chance for people to experience an important piece of Chenango County’s agricultural history.