You Won't Believe Who Owns The Most Land In Massachusetts

Jun 15, 2024

I thought this would be an interesting idea to do a post about, fellow Berkshire County peeps. If you had to guess, who would you think would be the largest landowner in the Bay State?

I'll be honest, I had no idea myself, which was one of the main reasons I wanted to do a post about it. Is it somebody enormously wealthy like Bill Gates (who, even though he's not from Massachusetts, is the largest private owner of land in the country)?

Is it some other rich philanthropist like Elon Musk? I actually thought that the largest landowner in Massachusetts was New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, but no, that wasn't correct, either.

And before you even think it, no, it's not actor Mark Wahlberg. I'll grant you that he's probably the most famous person from Massachusetts(at least nowadays), but he's not the largest landowner.

The answer is a company that you're probably unfamiliar with. I know I had never heard of them before I did the research. According to the World Population Review, the largest landowner in Massachusetts is the company W.D. Cowls, Inc.

W.D. Cowls, Inc., based in North Amherst, is the largest private landowner in Massachusetts with properties in approximately 30 towns in the Commonwealth. They've been sustaining farmland for over 300 years!

And(I thought this was cool) W.D. Cowls has been around so long that they were the ones who supplied the lumber for many of the first homes ever built in the Pioneer Valley. I think that's pretty impressive!

So there you go. Something else that proves you(and I) learn something new every day. Now, if anyone asks you who the largest landowner in Massachusetts is, you'll know the answer!