Listening Rock Farm has a long an diverse history. Human occupation of this land began over ten thousand years ago. Until 1600 A.D., Native Americans lived on this farm during the summer months and traveled south to Long Island Sound in winter. They were sustained by prolific runs of Atlantic salmon that migrated up the Housatonic River and spawned in the Ten Mile River. With the arrival of European settlers around 1600 A.D., the Native American tribes were decimated by diseases to which they had not developed resistances, and then were moved onto local reservations as the concept of deeded land rights took hold in America. From 1600 to 1900 a series of farms flourished on this property. They were bought by the state of New York in the early 1900's to create a large-scale institution for physically and mentally disabled people. By 1940 the State had built over one million square feet of buildings housing 5500 patients, with a staff of over 5000 employees. They farmed this property actively to grow a large percentage of the food required for the institution until 1975, at which point the farm was abandoned and allowed to decay. During the 1990's the state decided to follow the de-institutionalization trend and move most patients into small-scale residential settings. Wishing to prevent traditional development and believing that farms should be an integral part of our community, we acquired this land in December of 2000.