The Alpha Farm in Deadwood

August 11, 2025

Deadwood

Alpha Farm is an intentional community located in Deadwood, Oregon, founded in 1972 as part of the “back to the land” movement of the 1960s and ’70s. It was established by a group of like-minded individuals led by Caroline Estes, who traded her urban life in Philadelphia for a simpler existence on a farm in the coastal mountains of Oregon.

Beginnings

The community was named after the first local postmaster’s daughter, Alpha Lundey, and the former post office of the area, which had been established in 1890. The name “Alpha,” which is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and means “the beginning,” was fitting for the new start the founders were seeking.

Caroline Estes and her group planned the vision for a year before deciding on the location. They considered Vermont and Oregon, but eventually settled on the property in Deadwood, Oregon. On April Fools’ Day in 1972, the first member, Linda, arrived, and soon after, the rest of the group gave up their jobs to move to Alpha Farm.

The founding members pooled their resources to purchase the land, which took almost everything they had. To support the farm financially, they started the Alpha-Bit Café in Mapleton, six months after their arrival. The café has become a staple in the community.

Alpha Farm is known for its cooperative and tight-knit community, where members live a simpler life and work together on various projects. The community thrives on teamwork and consensus, and at its peak, it grew to 30 members. However, membership has fluctuated over the year.

Caroline Estes, one of the founding members, has a background in activism and teaching community work. She has been instrumental in the community’s development and has remained a central figure in its history. As of the information provided, she was the last of the original Alpha members still residing on the farm.

Mission

The mission of Alpha Farm, as an intentional community, is to support and promote the development of intentional communities and the evolution of cooperative culture. The community aims to live in harmony with each other and with nature, respecting the spirit in all people and the Earth. They strive to integrate life into a balanced whole and value service and work as love made visible. Alpha Farm emphasizes the importance of group process and consensus decision-making, which reflects their ideal of creating a world that operates on these principles. They meet regularly for business and make decisions as a group, with the goal of nurturing harmony within themselves, among people, and with the Earth.

The community members of Alpha Farm live and work together like a close-knit extended family on a 280-acre farm in the Coast Range of Oregon. They practice a largely self-reliant lifestyle and have a variety of living spaces including a farmhouse, new house, cabins, cottages, yurts, and trailers. The farm is a place where individuals have private rooms, but share common living spaces and communal meals. Alpha Farm’s members and residents work primarily on the farm or at various outreach activities around the greater Deadwood Community, and all income and resources are held in common.

Alpha Farm’s mission is to create a cooperative, harmonious living environment that honors the spirit in all people and nature, and to serve as a model for cooperative culture and intentional community living.