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Bonanza farms were very large farms established in the western United States during the late nineteenth century. They conducted large-scale operations, mostly cultivating and harvesting wheat. Bonanza farms developed as a result of a number of factors, including the efficient new machinery of the 1870s, cheap abundant land available during that period, the growth of eastern markets in the U.S., and completion of most major railroads between the farming areas and markets.
Most bonanza farms were owned by companies and run like factories, with professional managers. The first bonanza farms were established in the mid-1870s in the Red River Valley in Minnesota and in Dakota Territory, such as the Grandin Farm. Developers bought land close to the Northern Pacific Railroad, for ease of transport of their wheat to market. Investors also organized bonanza farms farther west.
Many bonanza farms were established in this period in North Dakota; a number have been preserved.[2]
- ^ Nolan, Edward W. (1983). Northern Pacific views: The railroad photography of F. Jay Haynes, 1876-1905. Helena, MT: Montana Historical Society Press. p. 7. ISBN 0-917298-11-X.
- ^ Lauren McCroskey (September 25, 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Submission: Bonanza Farms of North Dakota" (PDF). National Park Service.