On land that was originally part of William Penn's 30,000 acre Welsh Tract, The Broadlands Farm has a long history dating back to 1701, but its current form dates back to 1928 when Hoagland Gates developed a modern dairy where he bred and raised nationally-known prize winning Jersey cattle. In fact, the Broadlands name comes from the name of a farm on the Island of Jersey. After years of successful Jersey cattle development and exhibiting, where cows were transported to shows by railroad, the 197 acre dairy operation ceased in 1958. Crop farming continued until 1988, when the property was sold and developed into a research center. Basell USA, Inc. operated out of the site for numerous years until the company vacated their research facility. The property was then acquired by Cecil County Public Schools in 2013 to be turned into a new Cecil County School of Technology. The School Board came to an agreement to lease the front portion of the property which including the farm buildings to the Cecil County Farm Museum. See the Maryland State Historic Site Inventory for more information. The site is on the state inventory, but has not been designated a state historic site.