The farming tradition at Oxmoor Farm continues because of faith, family, and a desire to continue a legacy.

Oxmoor Farm, one of the oldest, consistently operated farms in this region dates back to 1787, when its owner of that time, Alexander Scott Bullitt, came to Oxmoor and began its agricultural journey.

While the world around Oxmoor Farm looks much different than what Bullitt found here, the farming tradition there is still in place today. The crops have changed over the years, but the desire to keep production agriculture alive and well on this farm has never wavered.

Five generations of the Bullitt family would live at Oxmoor, and multitudes of farmers would tend the land there throughout the decades.

Oxmoor Farm Foundation Curator Shirley Harmon said some of those families included familiar names to this area such as the Stutzenbergers, Rothenburgers, Westermans, Ochsners, McMichaels, Perkins, Kirchners, Kysers, Lentz, Prices, Fegers, Kaelins, Thomas’, and the Shaws.

“In 1926 William Marshall Bullitt turned over the Oxmoor farm operation to Fidelity-Columbia Trust Company for them to manage,” she said. “The first Oxmoor Farm manager was Louis Thomas, known as L.D.  He was followed by William Everett Shaw in 1929 and Shaw continued as the manager until 1970.”

After Shaw retired, Gene Allgeier, took over as farm manager. His son Larry would also come to the farm in 1975 and has remained there since.

“I grew up in Oldham County on a dairy farm, and dad came to Oxmoor Farm in 1970 to manage it and I came here in 1975,” he said. “I’ve retired from farming, but I still cut the grass here and marked 50 years with Oxmoor in March.” 

During their early years there, Allgeier said there was livestock on the farm, something that went away as the area around the Oxmoor saw more and more urban development. From a location perspective, Oxmoor Farm lies at the corner of two major highways, Interstates 64 and 264, with considerable urban development all around its borders.

Most people know the area for malls, automobile dealerships, office buildings, and restaurants, but nestled in this highly populated area is still rich farmland, as it has been for more than 230 years.

Over time, some of the farm has been developed, but very little of it has been sold. The part of the farm where several businesses reside, including the Oxmoor Mall, operates on a land lease. 

From a farming perspective, crops of wheat, corn, and soybeans have been grown there. The farm was also home to a dairy operation many years ago. Allgeier said, at one time, they grew about 400 acres of grain crops.

Hemp was the original cash crop when the first Bullitt farmers discovered the ground was not conducive to tobacco production as it was in their native Virginia. And at one time, potatoes were also a big crop for the farm and other farms in the area.

Gene Allgeier retired as farm manager in 2007 when his nephew Joe Bischoff, who grew up farming locally, began renting the crop land on the farm. He said his first connection to the farm was with its wheat crop.

“I made an agreement with my uncle to buy the straw, so that was my first dealings with Oxmoor Farm,” he said. “But I never dreamed in my life that I'd ever be there myself, farming.”

Bischoff had been familiar with Oxmoor for many years thanks to the relationship with his cousin and uncle, but renting the farm himself was, as he put it, a blessing.

“I've just been very blessed with these kinds of opportunities, and I knew the ground there was good,” Bischoff said. “It was just an overwhelming feeling.” 

In addition to the rented Oxmoor Farm acres, he also farms in Shelby, Henry, Oldham, and Jefferson Counties. 

“All together, I farm about 2,300 acres, but the 200 acres at Oxmoor--that is a special place to me,” he said. “They never had rented that acreage before, always having a farm manager there, but when the opportunity came up, I said, ‘Absolutely!’”

For Larry Allgeier, not only has Oxmoor been a place to work, but he also actually lives on the premises. 

“It’s home to me,” he said. “One of these days I'm going to have to hang it up and it's going to be hard to do. This has been my life for 50 years through thick and thin, blizzards and heat waves and anything else.”

In addition to the 200 acres of production farmland, 79 acres of the Oxmoor Farm are devoted to its historical past. This portion of the property, which includes the original houses and all the outbuildings, has been granted to the Kentucky Heritage Council to be maintained as a preservation easement, ensuring the perpetuity of Oxmoor.

For people who have been there or know about this property from a historical perspective, they may not realize the farming heritage associated with it.

But for those who pass by during planting or harvest seasons, it may come as a surprise that a working farm still exists in the middle of the largest metropolitan area in the state.

If Allgeier and Bischoff have a wish, it is likely that this farming tradition will continue into the future.

Bischoff has a new generation working with him that may just fit the bill in ensuring that the farm production side of Oxmoor will remain for the foreseeable future.

Alexander Scott Bullitt likely never dreamed that crops would still be grown on this farm 230 years after him, but it may not be out of the realm of belief that a little divine intervention has had something to do with this long farming history.

“It’s only by the grace of God that I have had this opportunity,” Bischoff said. “Only by the Grace of God.”