The Year 1901 »
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In June 1901, a young family immigrated to America from a German colony in eastern Poland. Their purpose was to find a better life and opportunity for themselves and their three daughters.

Teofil Richert, age 24, with Helena, his wife and young daughters, Emma, age 4; Alvenea, 2; and Neta, 9 months, settled into a tiny one-room cabin on 40 acres in the wilderness of the Skokomish Valley at the base of the Olympic Mountains.

Apparently, life on the 'wildside' was a little too much for the young family, and the Richerts soon moved to Tacoma, then to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. But, by 1906 they had returned to the cabin in the Skokomish Valley committed to making their lives on the 40 acres.

The 1940's »
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In 1909, Theodore "Ted" Richert, the future father of the Richert holdings, was born in the now-enlarged cabin. As a young boy in the Skokomish Valley, he learned all he could about farming, and eventually headed the farming part of the Richert family.

Prior to the 1940's all the Richert holdings were located south of the Skokomish River. where they became major farmers with a prospering
dairy operation.

Ted Richert married Ethel Mae, a young local woman, and between 1933 and 1940 they had three sons, Gerald (Jerry), Roger and George.

Meanwhile, Ted's interest in land acqusition turned to the north side of the Valley, where he acquired substantial acreage that was to become the core of the Richert holdings. The land was literally a 'stump farm' where the old growth timber had been removed.

The 1960's, 1980's and Present »
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Typical of their pioneering spirit, Ted, Ethel Mae, and their three growing sons started clearing the land for crops. The job was not easy, and was finally completed in the 1960's. The acreage was converted to ranching, and at one time the land supported over 300 head of beef cows.

In the early l980's, Ted turned the farming operations over to the sons, and this was the birth of Skokomish Farms Inc. Today, his cows are gone, the dairy operation is no more, and hay has been the major crop for several years until now......!

In 2009, the Richert legacy and dreams began a new phase as we direct Skokomish Farms towards the farming of organic crops, poultry and livestock for a full sustainable farming operation..