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The Living History Farm Program begins with Spring on the Farm and will be staged on weekends only through Fall on the Farm. Costumed interpreters will demonstrate agricultural and industrial activities of the 1870s on these days.
Visitors to the site can also participate in many 1870s activites in an interactive living history farm program that truly brings history to life!. Do you wonder how your rural grandparents and prior ancestors managed on the farm? Come and try rail splitting using hand tools... make children's toys... wash clothes by hand in a tub out by the clothes line... discover old gardening techniques in the heirloom kitchen garden.
Hours of Operation:
| Mon-Sat |
9:30-5:00 |
| Sun |
10:30-5:00 |
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Hand Tools
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Activity Description:
In a time without electricity and battery power to operate tools, the hand tool held a prominent role in everyday life in the 1870’s. Holes had to be drilled, boards cut, handles shaped, and tools sharpened. Come to Watkins Woolen Mill State Historic Site to watch as our skilled interpreters work with long forgotten tools such as the auger, bit and brace, drawknife, froe, handsaw, and grindstone and learn how to use them yourself! |
Laundry
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Activity Description:
Doing laundry was more than just putting clothes in machine and adding some soap in the 1870’s. Laundry was typically done once a week and depending upon the size of your family could take a long time. Waltus and Mary Ann Watkins had 11 children so laundry days would have been quite a chore! Clothes had to be scrubbed, rinsed, rung out, and hung up. We can still use all the help we can get, so come out and help us wash laundry! |
Blacksmithing
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Activity Description:
In the 1870’s the local blacksmith played an important role in community life. They performed vital functions from making horseshoes to making parts for farm equipment. At Watkins Mill the blacksmith took on an even greater importance. Not only was he needed for making parts for the farm equipment, but the mill equipment as well. Come see our blacksmith ply his trade and craft parts for the Watkins Farm! |
Rail Splitting
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Activity Description:
Split rail fences provided a cheap alternative to purchasing lumber to build a fence. The tools of the rail splitter were basic. Logs could be split with an axe or maul and wedges. Rail splitting was not unknown to the Watkins family. On July 3, 1851 Waltus’ sister Elizabeth Carter wrote from her home in Haynesville, MO in Clay county to her sister Mary Handy in Harrodsburg, KY concerning the farm Waltus helped her purchase. Elizabeth commented that she needed to have, “…some rails and fencing done up.” Watch, learn, and participate in rail splitting on the above listed dates! |
Victorian Clothing
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Activity Description:
Take a trip back to the styles of the 70’s, the 1870’s! Learn about corsets, bustles, bonnets, vests, and hats. Pick out an outfit to try on yourself or let our skilled clothing experts find the best set of 1870’s clothing for you to try on!
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Woodstove Cooking
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Activity Description:
The summer kitchen was a busy place for the Watkins. Mrs. Watkins not only oversaw the preparation of meals for her own family of nine, but often times prepared meals for as many as twenty-five farmhands in the summer! Every Saturday during the living history season of June through August you can see our costumed interpreters preparing meals using original family recipes with products grown from our garden. |
Victorian Games
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Activity Description:
Life in the 1870’s wasn’t all work and no play. Victorians enjoyed several different leisure activities. Participate in some of those leisure activities with us on Victorian Game days. Try out activities such as stilt walking, hoop and stick, croquet, horseshoes, and townball! |
Gardening
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Activity Description:
The food production and processing was the most important activity on the Watkins farm, and was governed by the seasons. It was critical that the Watkins plant an acre or more of garden in the spring; tend the vegetables, fruit trees, crops and livestock through the summer; and harvest and preserve them in the fall. If they could not raise and store enough food they would have little to eat that winter. Today, we maintain a ¼ acre raised bed garden where we raise heirloom flowers, herbs, and vegetables, many of which we have documented the Watkins family as having grown. Come participate in our garden tasks of cultivating and harvesting and view our heirloom garden! |
Sewing
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Activity Description:
Due to the cost of fabric in the 1870’s, most people would only own a few sets of clothes that they would take very good care of. With lost buttons, tears in pants, shirts, and hems to mend, and waistlines to let out or take in, sewing was a major part of life. Try your hand at mending our clothes and linens under the watchful eye of our skilled seamstresses! |
Cider Pressing
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Activity Description:
Waltus Watkins raised apples, pears, peaches, apricots, and cherries in his orchards. The apples could be dried in the fruit drying house or pressed for cider, a common beverage throughout the 1800’s. Today, we raise two types of historic varieties of apples, Winter Banana and Northern Spy, in our orchard. Join us for our final day of the living history season for an afternoon of fun and cider pressing! |
Fence Building
Cross-Cut Sawing
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Activity Description:
During his lifetime, Waltus Watkins would come to own three sawmills, which meant that many trees had to be harvested on the Watkins farm. The crosscut saw had become an important part of not only the tree harvesting process by the 1870’s, but also a common tool for farm. Learn about the history of the crosscut saw as well as how to use it by helping us saw logs for firewood splitting and other uses! |
Rag Rug Making
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Activity Description:
On November 7th, 1875 Carrie Watkins wrote to her sister Mattie that their mother Mary Ann Watkins had “…finished her new rag carpet and put it down. Tis very pretty.” We still practice the art of rag rug making at the Watkins farm today, using a handloom to make rag rugs for the Watkins house. On rag rug making days visitors are welcome to try out our loom and help us make rag rugs for the Watkins house just like Mary Ann Watkins did over 130 years ago! |
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