Founded in 1928, Suyematsu Farm, on Bainbridge Island, is the oldest, continuously farmed working landscapes, and one of the largest production farms, in Kitsap County. Since the period of Japanese American Exclusion, Suyematsu Family Farm has become a place of inclusion.
Along with feeding our local food community, this forty acre farm has become an established historic and cultural site for teaching and learning about the Japanese American experience, and a living bookend to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial. The Picker Cabins, once seasonally occupied by Filipino farmworkers and First Nation families who migrated to the Island to pick berries, among others, help to preserve the origins of Bainbridge Island’s Indipino Community.
In 2024, Suyematsu Farm Legacy Alliance entered into an agreement with the City of Bainbridge Island to take over the property in order to repair, stabilize and restore this cultural and community asset. SFLA is committed to cultivating strong working relationships focused on honoring the legacy of historic Suyematsu Farm. Our current goals are to repair, stabilize and restore the historic structures on the property, place the farm on State & National Historic Registers, and improve the welfare of the current farmers who are Akio Suyematsu’s agricultural legacy. To help us achieve our goals, we are guided by Akio's principles and traditions of "clean living" for generations to come.
Suyematsu Farm Legacy Alliance (SFLA) is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the living legacy and heritage of Akio Suyematsu and the Suyematsu Farm Historic Property as a community and cultural asset involving a center of active farming, interpretation and education.
Many of the historic structures on the Suyematsu Farm Historic Property have entered an endangered state since Akio Suyematsu’s passing in 2012. In 2024, Suyematsu Farm Legacy Alliance entered into an agreement with the City of Bainbridge Island to take over the property in order to repair, stabilize and restore this cultural and community asset.
Our major goals for 2025 are to the seal and weatherproof the Suyematsu Farmhouse, built in 1928. This involves replacing the roof, remove mold, and conducting the needed electrical, plumbing and heating repairs to bring it back a state of occupancy.
The estimated budget for this urgent repair work is $180,000.
The City of Bainbridge Island awarded SFLA a $60,000 grant to help underwrite urgently needed repairs the original Suyematsu family farmhouse, for which we are very grateful.
SFLA is actively working to raise the balance of $120,000 to complete the most urgent repair work.
Once this work is completed, SFLA plans to use newer sections of the farmhouse as a base of operations, meeting space, research library and archive, while planning to restore the original farmhouse to its pre-WWII period of significance.
Your support SFLA’s efforts to repair, restore and revitalize the Suyematsu Farm Historic Property are deeply appreciated!
Organization name
Suyematsu Farm Legacy Alliance
Categories
Education
Geography Served
Bainbridge Island, Silverdale/Central Kitsap, Poulsbo/North Kitsap
Annual Revenue
$100,000 - $499,999
BIPOC Leadership
Board Chair, Board Members
BIPOC Serving
Asian or Asian American, Native American or American Indian, Multiracial
Volunteer-Led Organizations
Volunteer-Led Organizations
Address
PO BOX 11316