Murphy Orchards is a privately owned and operated fruit farm located in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area of New York State, 12 miles due north of the Town of Lockport, 3 miles south of the Lake Ontario shore, and 25 miles east of Niagara Falls. We grow apples, sweet cherries, tart cherries, peaches, pears, plums, pumpkins, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, plus a few other specialty fruits and vegetables. Come visit us! While here, you can pick your own fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers as they come ready for harvest throughout the season, or purchase them already picked in our Country Barn Store, where the shelves are filled with our extensive array of jams, jellies, fruit butters, relishes and fruit and herbal vinegars and oils, made right here in the farmhouse kitchens. We take great pride in our homemade products – made the traditional way – one batch at a time, just like Grandma used to do. We use the very best fresh fruits and vegetables, lovingly grown, picked and processed right here on our farm. We are very proud of the heritage of this farm that is now our home. The farm has been a family owned and operated fruit farm in continuous production since the early 1800s. We still grow plants on the same soil to earn our living, and still use the farmhouse, barn and outbuildings built by Charles and Libby McClew in 1850. Charles and Libby McClew are believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad Network between 1850 and 1861. The farm’s structures, the orchards and the landscape itself remain virtually as they were 150 years ago, allowing you to step back in time and experience a very special and unique view of Underground Railroad history. There is a concealed chamber beneath the barn, the trapdoor entrance to which can be viewed from inside the barn, where people escaping from slavery along organized, secret routes throughout the United States were able to hide and were cared for by the McClew family until it was safe for them to continue on their journey to freedom in Canada. The original icehouse and smokehouse serve as our public rest rooms, and the majestic old farmhouse is both where we live, and where we serve light luncheons and Afternoon tea in the Orchard Tea Rooms. Over twenty acres of the farm’s land has been dedicated to Wildlife Habitats and Environmental Conservation, with walking trails that follow along Hopkins Creek and through the brush and woods, so that you can experience the landscape traveled by people escaping from slavery, the hardships they endured, and their reliance upon their knowledge of the environment for both navigation and survival. We welcome everyone – without reservations and without any admission fee - to come and pick our fresh fruits and vegetables, browse through our Country Barn Store, and enjoy our grounds and facilities. We also offer various Agricultural, Environmental and Underground Railroad Heritage guided tours by reservation. Murphy Orchards has been selected as a charter member of the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, based upon the quality of our Educational Programs. Murphy Orchards was selected Small Business of the Year, in1997 by the Eastern Niagara Chamber of Commerce. Click here for map and driving directions to Murphy Orchards.