As you drive by the Lone Star Farm you will see a barn that is over 100 years old. The current owner's parents bought the barn and the house over forty years ago. When the parent's died their daughter moved into the house.

The quilt square is a family quilt that holds very special importance to the owner. As a young girl she would stay with her grandmother and they would quilt together. Quilting is something that they both always enjoyed. When the grandmother passed her grandfather gave her a quilt. That quilt was the inspiration for the square.

The original mill was powered by a sixteen-foot high, wooden, overshot, water wheel. This wheel was connected by dogwood trunnel-head gearing to two fifty-four inch diameter stone buhrs - one stone for grinding corn and one for grinding wheat. Beef and mutton tallow were produced on the farm to lubricate the gears and bearings. George W. St. John acquired the mill in 1866 from relatives. The Watauga valley was very prosperous, having been spared damage from the Civil War. Milling continued to flourish as it had for the past century and the area became known as "The Bread Basket of the Southeast". Railroad and water transportation were an asset to the mill and goods from the St. John Mill were shipped all over the region. In busy seasons, wagons lined up overnight to grind their grain.In 1904, James St. John inherited the mill and farm from his father. For many years, James operated the mull supplying the large stores in the area with flour and grain and doing custom milling on an individual basis. His son George St. John, an electrical engineer by profession, purchased the mill and improved the operation by converting the power source from water to electricity and modernizing the equipment. Today, the mill is owned by George St. John's daughter and son-in-law, who are continuing the family business. The emphasis of the mill operation has changed from a general feed and milling business to a feed and seed store. The mill now specializes in all aspects of farm needs, from feed grains to pet food and veterinary supplies. The St. John Mill has existed for over 200 years, and with the support of the family and loyal customers, the business will continue into the next century. The 'Little Dutch Girl and Boy' Quilt Square was painted by Ron Dawson.

LeMoyne Star hangs on the Bacon barn. An early quilt pattern dating back to the early 1800s, it is also known as the Eight Point Star or Puritan Star. Precision and patience were the key to the traditional inset piecing technique of this design. Perhaps the quilter, Cora Cox Bacon, grandmother of the current farm owner, was keenly aware of this accomplishment as she displayed her finished product on her bedroom wall in the Bacon home-place.

Cora's husband, Robert B. Bacon, built the barn in 1890. His father, Charles Bacon, deeded the farm to him in 1891.

In 1959, Robert and Cora's son, Bruce H. Bacon, Sr., bought his siblings' shares in the farm. Bruce's son, Bruce, Jr. and his wife, Debbie, are the current owners. The barn underwent major renovations in 2004.

Fifth and sixth generation Bacons now reside in the home-place, Bruce H. Bacon, III and his wife, Amber, and their daughter, Kyleigh Paige.

The Bacon Farm is located within two miles of the historic Sulphur Springs United Methodist Church campshed, which has been the home of the Sulphur Springs Camp Meeting for over 180 years.

Isabell Krouse Sherfey, grandmother of the current owner, made the all-cotton quilt from which this unknown pattern is copied. Isabell made the quilt at her homeplace, probably with the help of her three sisters, all of whom were trained by their mother, Susanna Wine Krouse, in the art of spinning, weaving, knitting and crocheting. The Krouses grew flax and cotton to use in their spinning and raised sheep for the wool to card and spin. Isabell brought the quilt to begin housekeeping when she married widower, David Preston Sherfey, in 1889. He had served with the Union Army in the Civil War and had sold his 1861 Colt revolver to purchase a wagon, mowing machine, hay rake, and a team of mules for farming 17 ½ acres and log cabin he had bought in 1886. This land was part of the original 400+ acres granted to Charles Duncan in 1777 in what was then the state of North Carolina. David Sherfey was a nurseryman, growing fruit trees for sale and farming. He and Isabell had one son, John A. Sherfey, who gave Pioneer Homestead its name in recognition of its land grant origin. The Charles Duncan log cabin, built before 1777, still stands today and was completely restored in 1995. Nearby, privately owned Knob Creek Museum houses many artifacts of the Sherfey and Krouse families, as well as those of community contributors.

Lucinda’s great-nephew, Dr. Luke Hunt, had lived with her when he was a young boy. He attended East Tennessee Normal School, and after finishing medical school, he returned home in 1944 and bought the farm. Dr. Hunt’s descendants still own the farm. A picture of the house made in the early 1900’s was found in an old trunk on the property. The kitchen portion of the house is the original log cabin. It looks very much the same today as in the picture. The current barn was built with hand-hewn wooden beams and put together with wooden pegs.