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Trax Farms, a Union Township landmark, is celebrating 150 years in business

By Rick Shrumbusiness Writerrshrum@observer-Reporter.Com 4 min read
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Trax Farms President Bob Trax shows off a few fresh ripe apples growing in the orchard on his family’s farm. Trax Farms in Union Township is celebrating 150 years in business with a special event from noon to 4 p.m. Aug. 15, with samples, music,games, prizes and cake.

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Trax Farms Market is open at 9 a.m. daily and closes at 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday and offers a variety of fresh produce, baked goods, crafts, wine and décor.

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Trax Farms sells a variety of produce grown on its farm including peaches, corn, berries, peppers, cucumbers, apples and more. Produce can be purchased year-round at the Trax Farms Market.

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Trax Farms has been operated by six generations of the Trax family through the past 150 years. The farm started in Library before moving to Union Township and now includes an 85,000-square-foot farmers market store.

The book on Trax Farms, appropriately, begins in Library.

“We purchased a farm there in the summer of 1865,” said Bob Trax, president of the rolling spread along Route 88 that was far from a rolling spread when Ludwig Trax made the original buy: 25 acres in southernmost Allegheny County.

“As dairy farms went out of business,” he continued, “our farm expanded.”

Five generations, 300 acres and 150 years later, Ludwig’s investment endures. Trax Farms, a popular Washington County family destination, is celebrating its sesquicentennial, highlighted by an on-site party Aug. 15 from noon to 4 p.m. It promises be a funfest, but also a testament to durability, hard work, consistency, innovation and an agrarian gene.

“The number of businesses that last six generations is probably in the first percentile. Not many make it that far,” said Trax, 54. Nine family members are on the payroll, including Bob’s sisters, Judy Ross and Peggy Coffield, who both work in accounting and serve as buyers in the gift area.

His family’s enterprise spans 325 acres overall, split by Route 88. Half is in Union Township, with much of the remainder spilling into Peters Township. That sliver in the Library section of South Park Township is still theirs.

Trax bills itself on Facebook and Twitter as “a working produce farm and greenhouse,” but it is much more. There is the neatly appointed store, which opened in the late 1950s and features displays of produce; dairy, deli, dining and gift areas; flowers; a wine store; and, since last year, a craft beer shop.

“The store has 75,000 square feet … that’s too much,” Trax said, chuckling.

There also are the hayrides, corn mazes, children’s tours, fall festivals, birthday parties and other events.

“Every time we have an event, traffic goes up, so events are a key for us,” he said. “We have to come up with events to bring people in. We try to have something for everybody.”

Some other formidable figures: about 290,000 visiting customers in 2014; 4,000 Loyalty Club members; 24 acres of apple trees; and 65-plus full-time employees. The workforce mushrooms to 185 to 190 during the busy fall period.

“We grow about 90 percent of what we sell,” Trax said.

Although agriculture has diminished in the region, the industry still has a sturdy presence. Farm store competition remains keen in Washington County and the Mon Valley, requiring owners and operators to constantly come up with initiatives in the quest to stay ahead.

“What sets us apart,” Trax said, “is not what we grow, but how we handle it. We pay attention to detail to put things on a shelf that are quality and look as good as they can.”

The president’s workday is extremely busy, requiring him to scurry about the expansive property from duty to duty. Tasks can be tedious, but he said there is enough variety to keep him as fresh as the fruits and vegetables the staff strives to sell.

“I like the change of pace,” Trax said. “By the time you’re sick and tired of picking corn, it’s time to pick pumpkins or apples.”

Apples, he said, are the company’s signature produce item. That includes cider, which the Traxes started making in 1964 and which they sell in various grocery stores during the fall. Their press is at a location on nearby Sugarcamp Road, but Bob Trax said it may be moved to the store.

This is a major metamorphosis from what Ludwig Trax launched 150 years ago. The date of his purchase is uncertain, but it occurred a few months after Lee surrendered to Grant, ending the Civil War.

The age of the house on the Library property likewise is unclear. A stone on the fireplace inside is inscribed “1803,” meaning the structure is at least 212 years old. But Bob Trax – the great-great-great-grandson – said that may have been a date of an addition, that the building could go back to the 1700s.

His family still owns that house, which has numerous rooms and is the seasonal home of Trax migrant workers. The building is shuttered for several months after those employees leave for their permanent residences in the fall.

Expansion of the Trax property accelerated in the mid-20th century. Bob believes the store launched in 1958, a retail vegetable operation in what had been a dairy barn. The market expanded several times, including a major addition in 1979.

“Then business exploded,” he said.

A century and a half later, Trax is still making tracks.

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