In 1942, Louis Bromfield bought farmland that includes what is now called Mount Jeez, a high hill and surrounding farmland previously known as Poverty Knob. It was one of the earliest farms established in Monroe Township, but by the time he purchased the land, its fields were so depleted that no local farmer was willing to rent or lease them. Bromfield frequently wrote about the hill, its sad history, and how he restored its productivity. Born in Mansfield, Ohio, on December 27, 1896, Bromfield studied at Cornell and Columbia universities, served in the U.S. Army during the First World War, lived in New York and France, and wrote several novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Early Autumn. In 1939, he bought several small farms to establish Malabar Farm. He continued writing novels but gradually shifted from fiction writer to self-educated, conservation-minded farmer. By the late 1940s, he had gained a national reputation as an authority on sustainable agriculture, and Malabar Farm was called the most famous farm in America. In 1972, Malabar Farm was gifted to the State of Ohio and in 1976 it was designated an Ohio State Park. It continues to operate as a working farm, preserving Louis Bromfield's memory and work.