History
The earliest European inhabitants in the lush valley were Levi Lord and his friends and family who settled the town of Lords Valley. As the population grew, most of the residents made their livings logging and operating saw mills.
In the 1920s, William Brewster and his family bought the property that would later become Hemlock Farms. He built several structures, roads and a golf course on the property, which his family called “Camp Hemlock,” before selling the 4,500 acres to a developer in 1963. The developer, Western Heritage Properties Limited, plotted out nearly 4,000 lots for one-family homes and began advertising the community in nearby metro areas. By the 1970s, the community had more than 1,000 homes and ownership and maintenance responsibilities were transferred from the developers to the Hemlock Farms Community Association – a non-profit corporation that every property owner in Hemlock becomes a part of.
Surrounded by 84,000 acres of state and federal forest lands, today Hemlock Farms has more than 3,000 homes, three houses of worship, its own Volunteer Fire Department and EMS Service, 24/7 Public Safety patrol, and many amenities including an indoor pool, outdoor pools, beach areas, tennis courts, playgrounds and ice skating rink.