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Hillview Farm was an operating farm located in an area encompassed by Old Sedley Road, Fairview Drive, and North High Street. It was bordered on the north by the Franklin High School property and the woodlands that extend to North High Street. In the present day, the James L. Camp Jr. YMCA, Southampton Medical Center, Franklin Health Department, and the Village at Woods Edge occupy the former farm.

Hillview Farm primarily produced milk, peanuts, corn, and hay. It was originally owned by Rena Camp Rawls and Sol Rawls Sr. and later by the Sol W. Rawls Jr. family. 

Its agricultural history, though, dates to the early 1800s when it was a part of the much larger George Camp II Farm – located on the northern edge of early-day Franklin. The George Camp II Farm extended from the Blackwater River and in a northerly and northwesterly direction toward the Gardner and Gillette properties and to the old Courtland Highway – the present-day U. S. Route 58.

In 1879, George Camp II conveyed much of his farm and total estate to his son James L. Camp (Sr.). His other properties were conveyed to his other sons and daughters. 

James L. Camp (Sr.), in the early part of the twentieth century, conveyed the former Geroge Camp II farm, in segments, to his sons and daughters: James L. Camp Jr., William M. Camp (Sr.), Hugh D. Camp, Elizabeth Camp (Smith), Sally Camp (Ray), and Rena Camp (Rawls). Then, they each created their own farms. 

In the early 1930s, Sol and Rena Rawls added dairy operations to Hillview Farm. From the beginning, the herd was made up of purebred Guernsey cattle. Twenty-four to thirty-six Guernsey cows were milked twice a day. The milk was sold in bulk to Pine Grove Dairy in Portsmouth. At first, the cows were milked by hand and then, in the late 1940s, milking machines were used to milk the cows. 

On average, there were approximately sixty guernsey cows. Each cow had a name and was registered with the National Guernsey Association – some were nationally recognized for their high-quality milk, which had high butterfat content.  

Sol Rawls Jr. became quite active in the Southeastern Virginia Guernsey Breeders Association.

Starting in the 1930s, and for many years, Harvey Cutchins was the Hillview Farm Manager and resided on the farm. In the late 1940s, though, he married widow Annie Turner Gardner – Jesse Gardner’s mother – and moved in with her on her farm right next to Hillview Farm. He continued to manage Hillview Farm.  

Other occupants and residents of Hillview Farm during the 1940s and 1950s included some of the farm workers: in the dairy operations, Clyde Francis, who lived on the farm near the present-day Franklin High School with his wife, Myrtle; son, Clyde Jr.; and daughter, Bertha. Paul Jenkins, his wife, and his son Ernest Jenkins were also involved with the dairy operations and residing on the farm.  Horace Bowles, wife Virginia, and son Tommy resided in a house located on the lower part of the farm at the present-day site of the Village at Woods Edge. Then, there were farm workers John Dawson and Peter Perkinson, both of whom resided in Franklin.

Also residing on the farm during the 1940s and 1950s were Hugh (Pete), Virginia Taylor and son Hugh Jr., Fred and Lillian Parker, and their sons Bobby, Clyde, and Frankie. But Fred Parker and Pete Tayor were employed by S. W. Rawls, Inc., Gulf Oil Company distributor in Franklin. 

Dairy operations on Hillview Farm ended in 1950, but limited crop cultivation continued on a portion of the farm for a long time after that. Southampton Memorial Hospital was established on the farm in the early 1960s in the former peanut field. The James L. Camp Jr. YMCA is located in the middle of the former cow pasture.

CLYDE PARKER is a retired human resources manager for the former Franklin Equipment Co. and a member of the Southampton County Historical Society. His email address is magnolia101@charter.net