OUR STORY

The Hawes family has been ranching and farming in Shasta County for the last five generations.The family roots trace back to William Haas and Henrietta Jung who emigrated separately from Germany in the mid-1800’s and met in Shasta County. The couple married in 1876 and changed the spelling of their names to the current spelling — Hawes.

Together the couple farmed more than 1,400 acres near Fort Reading on Cow Creek and the Sacramento River. Hawes ancestors primarily grew dryland wheat, and the family had the first horse drawn grain harvester in Northern California.

 

Historic Hawes Farms was established in 1863, and we are the 6th generation of Hawes still on this land! We have over 150 years of farming in our blood, and Historic Hawes Farms is still a real working farm — growing hay, fruits, vegetables and walnuts seasonally. We are located in northern California — right along the Sacramento River - between Anderson and Palo Cedro, where the old Deschutes Railroad ran many years ago.

The legacy of William and Henrietta is carried on today by Glenn and Wanda Hawes. Glenn and Wanda met while attending College at Chico State. They were married in 1964 and had 2 children, Greg and Lori. They started farming out of college with 35 acres of walnuts and some pasture land.

 

In 1977, Glenn and Wanda Hawes decided to open their own feed store. A barn built in 1914 became the general store and is still Hawes' headquarters. These days Greg Hawes, along with his wife, Nikola, run the feed store which now includes a second location in Red Bluff. 

The family raises hogs, sheep, and cattle, as well as a variety of crops including onions, cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupes, mustard, and pumpkins (all from seed). They also grow dryland grain crops like oats, barley, and wheat.

In 2005, the Hawes family opened the Historic Hawes Farms pumpkin patch and corn maze. The ten acre facility sees thousands of visitors every October and has quickly become an annual tradition for many North State families.