eNewsletters
Subscribe for the latest news and exclusive offers.
Visitor Guide
View our Visitors Magazine to make the most of your Grapevine experience.
Get the Guide
Your browser is not supported for this experience.
We recommend using Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari.
Nash Farm History
The Nash Family was part of a migration of farmers from the Upper South (Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee) who settled on the Grape Vine Prairie in the years prior to the Civil War. Thomas Jefferson Nash was born in Marion County, Kentucky, on March 4,1827. His wife, Elizabeth Mouser, was born in Washington County on October 20, 1828. They were married on February 17, 1848 and had five daughters and one son. The oldest three were born in Lebanon, Kentucky, and the youngest three, in Grapevine. William P. Nash, Thomas' brother, was born on July 2, 1828. Thomas and William were very close, and William lived with Thomas and his family most of his adult life. William was a stonemason and local lore says he laid the stone foundation of the Nash House, the barn and Grapevine's First Methodist Church.
Thomas Jefferson Nash purchased 110 acres of farmland in Grapevine in 1859. At first, the family lived in a log cabin, which was later replaced by the current house in about 1869. The Nash family raised an assortment of livestock and crops. Today, 5.2-acres of the original Nash Farm, including the house Thomas built, his barn and the family cemetery, still stands in heart of historic Grapevine at 626 Ball St. The house retains much of its original structure, but was restored in 2008.
Grape Vine Prairie
The Grape Vine Prairie, a part of the Blackland Prairie, boasts gently rolling hills of fertile soil. Located on the border of the Blackland Prairie and Cross Timbers, it is a narrow band of forest (oak, pecan, black walnut) extending from Central Texas to southern Kansas. Wild mustang grapes grew abundantly in this area and gave the local prairie the name "the Grape Vine Prairie." Most of the Nash family land was open prairie, but records show there was also patches of forest on the property. The Nashes utilized the prairie for farming and the timbered area for firewood.
Mission Statement
The Grapevine Heritage Foundation's mission for Nash Farm is to preserve, protect, and visually reflect the significance of our farming and agricultural heritage so that future generations may appreciate and experience a way of life lived by settlers of the Grape Vine Prairie.
Nash Farm offers multiple special events and interpretive programs, as well as, educational tours that allow citizens and visitors to connect with the agricultural heritage of the Grape Vine Prairie.
Nash Farm Today
Nash Farm is overseen by the Grapevine Heritage Foundation Board of Directors, who partners with the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau to provide the staff for the site.