After our
first night’s stay in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania, we set off on our first
adventure of the day. Visiting the
Pocono Mountains was a general goal but I’d selected a specific objective for
the day, one that I knew would be a hit with my better half!
This is
the ticket center and gift shop for the Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm. The farm is a non-profit living history museum
that preserves and defines Pennsylvania German agricultural heritage from the
1800s… Historical interpreters re-enact daily life on the farm and various
tours of various aspects of the farm are conducted daily.
There are
farm animals everywhere…such as these free range chickens (?) and that flock of
turkeys…just wandering around looking for good bits to eat!
The Quiet
Valley Farm was founded in the late 1760’s by the Depper family, immigrants
from Germany. They’d arrived in Philadelphia
in 1765 and it wasn’t long before they ventured a little north in search of
land they could farm. They chose this
land in the Pocono Mountains near what is today the city of Stroudsburg.
This barn
is believed to be the third barn on the site.
This great example of an American bank barn was built during the
1850s. A bank barn is quite literally a
barn where the lower level of the barn is built into a hillside or ‘bank’.
Our
historical interpreter demonstrated the uses of a number of old farm implements
including a corn shucker. (At one point, Laurie helped him shuck!) He also told
us about the barn, how the hay was stored and a bit about day to day farm life back
in the mid to late 1800s.
When
there are critters around, the unpredictable can and does happen! The goat in the photo above had slipped his tether and he
headed straight for the barn. He knew
about that corn shucker and was hankering for a special treat. It took a while to corral him too as he had some
great evasive maneuvers!
After the
presentation on the upper level of the barn, our interpreter led us around to
the lower level of the barn. There we
exchanged greetings with this super friendly calf and the resident mule.
While the
upper part of the barn was built with mortice and tenon construction, the lower
level where the animals are kept is made of stone. This sheltered section of the barn…built into
the hillside…minimizes the summer heat as well as the cold winter weather,
making it easier to protect the livestock.
Note:
·
Mortice
(also mortise) and tenon construction refers to a type of joint that connects 2
pieces of wood or some other material.
Basically, one piece of the wood in the joint fits into the other piece,
usually at a 90 degree angle.
The
original part of the farmhouse was dug into the side of a hill and it dates
back to the late 1700s. That 'cellar' was the
original home and its still part of the home today. A short time later, a
ground floor bedroom with a loft for the family’s children were added over the
cellar. Ca. 1890, part of the wrap
around porch was enclosed and turned into a parlor, a new kitchen was built and
a wood burning cook stove was added.
This
young lady provided information about the Cellar Kitchen…the historic and dark
lower level of the house. She explained
its history and how the house functioned in the early days of the farm. Until the kitchen and wood stove were added
upstairs, (about a hundred years later), all of the family’s cooking was done
here…
This
historical reenactor on duty in the new parlor told us that the farm had been
passed down through the Depper’s descendants…but that their great-great
grandchild had married a city girl from Philadelphia who wasn’t crazy about the
Cellar Kitchen or the primitive nature of the farmhouse. Happy wife…happy life! He built the parlor and new kitchen for his
wife…
Our upstairs
reenactor was also an adept story teller…plus she challenged us to identify the
items shown above. We have visited a lot
of museums and old time farms but we were stumped by a couple of
these items. Of course the indoor toilet seat was recognizable and that iron like device on the store was a pleat crimper. We can't remember what she said the series of chain loops in the first photo was. The same is true for the device right above the 'crimper' on the stove. Any ideas?
these items. Of course the indoor toilet seat was recognizable and that iron like device on the store was a pleat crimper. We can't remember what she said the series of chain loops in the first photo was. The same is true for the device right above the 'crimper' on the stove. Any ideas?
It just
happened that we visited the Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm on the second
Saturday in August…which was Heritage Craft Day! As a consequence, there were many volunteer crafters
set up around the center of the farm demonstrating their specialties.
Among
others skills on display, there was black smithing, hay fork making, leather
working, weaving plus bobbin lace and basket making.
This was another
segment of the crafter’s displays at the farm.
Not only was it an interesting time to visit Quiet Valley, there were
some truly committed old time talents around to visit with.
We’d
never seen ‘wheat art’ before. I’m
guessing that it takes patience!
The above
photos show some of the other farm animals scattered around this 114 acre
farm. I love the sheep looking out the
entrance to their shelter as well as the pig poking his head out the door. The cat was just being a cat…and she couldn’t
be bothered with people. Another pen
contained the Tom Turkey.
This was
the garden in mid-August. There were a
lot of herbs in evidence as well as a small patch of tobacco.
Time for
a wagon ride! This is just one of the
events at Quiet Valley and it’s the only one where visitors incur an additional
charge. ($3.00 per person)
Other
possible activities at Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm include a garden talk,
ice house talk, horse grooming and harnessing, chicken and rabbit feeding, the
farm house tour, a school house tour, the barn tour and the granddaddy cabin
with the bake oven tour. (All are included in the general admission tickets but timing and availability will vary)
Our handsome draft horses led us past the one room school house…
FYI…In
addition to the barn, gift shop, house, school house and tool shed, other
structures include an old outhouse, a sheep shed, springhouse, wood shed, ice
house, chicken house, wagon shed, pig barn, dry house, smokehouse and the
Granddaddy cabin.
The
driver for our wagon was ably assisted by this very happy youngster! The sound of the horses and wagon passing
through the covered bridge is something that few people would recognize in this
day and age…
Did you
notice the leather ‘string’ coat on the horses?
The movement of the strips on the horses as they pulled us along, chases
off the flies that would otherwise torment our trusty steeds!
The
road/trail led us through the woods…quite a pretty area! The wagon ride was a nice way for us to
conclude our visit to this slice of rural history…
This was
a nice way to start our day, very laid back, entertaining and informative. It was great to see many families too…even
some teenage kids asking questions!
Quiet
Valley Living Historical Farm is located at 347 Quiet Valley Road in
Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. Phone:
570-992-6161. The website for this worth
non-profit bit of living history is found at www.quietvalley.org. Admission for adults is only $10.00 and its
$5.00 for children. A discount is
available during the summer for AAA and AARP members and seniors over the age
of 62. Any way you look at it, this
attraction is a bargain!
Just
click on any of our many photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by to check out the beginning of our third day of our summer vacation!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave