The Robinson District

Once upon a time in one of the farthest reaches of Strafford, a meetinghouse to rival the Strafford Town House once stood. It had seating for 200 and a gilded dome on its steeple. Anyone traveling a little more than a century ago along Brook Road in Strafford (Faye Brook Road in Sharon), could not have missed it. It was the Robinson Meetinghouse in what is now known as the Robinson District adjacent to the four corners of Strafford, Sharon, Tunbridge, and Royalton.

Eight generations of Robinsons have lived and farmed there. Willard Robinson, (5th Generation) expanded the farm’s acreage and operations and commissioned the construction of the famously photogenic “Round Barn,” which was completed in 1917. Recently, the Robinson District has been in the news. Donald Hall, a wealthy businessman from Utah, purchased nearly 1,500 acres in the 4-Corners vicinity of Royalton, Sharon, Tunbridge and Strafford and proposed the construction of a 20,000-person, gated community, to be called NewVistas. The proposed site for the community was chosen because of its proximity to Joseph Smith’s birthplace and memorial, just two miles from the Robinson Farm.