The Lawrence Place Family History

The Lawrence Place multi-generational family farm was founded on June 21, 1951 located at 15145 SR-568 in Findlay, Ohio by Dallas and Isabel Lawrence. Tom “Grandpa” Lawrence, now 86, was 13 at the time and developed a strong work ethic to help his family farm succeed. Dallas and Isabel both came from farm-oriented backgrounds but also had a passion for teaching. Starting out raising livestock, Dallas and Isabel later chose to expand their barn to accommodate a produce stand.

As their livestock flourished, with additional funds they expanded again to growing vegetables and hosting on-site farmer’s markets where they and other community growers sold produce to families seeking fresh berries and greens. In 1960, after serving in the Army and returning home, Tom enrolled at Ohio State University and entered into the vegetable crop division in the horticultural curriculum with a vision to utilize the 25+ acres on the family farm to develop an expansion of fresh fruit and vegetables, taking after his parent’s passions to provide quality produce to the Findlay area. In 1962, Tom started raising rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries, red and black raspberries, and other veggies like corn and tomatoes.

With a love for farming, Tom also shared a love for baseball. In his prime years after graduating from OSU and an official Buckeye baseball alumni, Tom traveled to Detroit to participate in MLB tryouts and although he was the youngest, he was a stand-out to the scouts. Tom was then recruited to play for the Phillies and had a thriving career in baseball until he suffered an injury that ended his baseball career earlier than anticipated. With his long-standing relationship with the Phillies, he served as a professional scout and helped recruit top baseball talent. He enjoyed having the opportunity to stay connected to the sport he loved so much. As time went on, he eventually stepped away from the Phillies as he felt called to travel home and reengage with the family farm. With his last paycheck in hand, Tom purchased a bike while leaving his last game as a scout with the Phillies. Instead of taking the bus back to Ohio from California, Tom decided to embark on a cross-country trip and truly took the scenic route (spoiler alert, Tom still has his bike and it is on display in the barn!). One of his most memorable stops along the scenic route was in a small town in Nebraska. When he spoke with some people about his story and his ambitious bike trip home to Ohio, they gifted him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and wished him well. It is the kindness and generosity of strangers turned friends that kept him peddling home, ready to return the favor to his community.

As the years went on, in 1982 the barn was remodeled to become an accommodating and useful retail property for the community to gather and share in memorable experiences. Tom later married Linda (who started as a worker in the strawberry fields, we might add!) and together they rented additional ground to accommodate the growth. Despite the growing success of the property, Tom continued to work full-time at Whirpool to keep up with bills while Linda worked tirelessly to keep up with the fruit and vegetables, working long days in the hot sun and getting up early to tend to the property.

In 1991, Tom and Linda began to use grape vines on the property to weave baskets and wreaths to sell at their markets, making each item both of high quality and durability. While the first few were “junk” according to Tom, he and Linda were able to offer something truly unique to the community and saw much success out of their new venture with grape vines and trees. In the history of creating baskets and wreaths, 1800 trees later and traveling the states like Oregon, California, Mississippi, Michigan, and most of Ohio, they felt full of pride and purpose to create something much bigger than themselves.

Many years of growth later, fast forward to the family transition in 2023, when Kodak, Tom and Linda’s grandson, has taken over operations of the family farm with the dedication of building a safe-space for families to come together, have fun, and "unplug" while being part of memorable experiences and making new friends within the local community. Tom now serves as an advisor and mentor to Kodak and his business partner Trent as they carry out the family legacy. Coming soon to The Lawrence Place will be a you-pick flower garden, corn maze, family fun day activities like potato sack races and more, as well as local, Northwest Ohio food truck days while guests can shop local business products in the country store.

“The farm always embodied the title of “home” because of my grandma’s ability to love me and my brother unconditionally. Seeing their success with the family business made them seem famous in my eyes. I knew at a young age the property needed to always remain in our family name, and has since became my life’s mission to keep their legacy going, and we are already seeing huge support from the community” - Kodak.

There are big plans for The Lawrence Place and we cannot wait to expand the family name and build more relationships with members of our community. Thank you for the decades of support. We hope to see you all soon!