~This post is all about FALL in a historic setting...scads of photos...see the changes~
It was a mighty hot and humid summer. And here in Michigan, the heat continued into mid-October.
Meh---there is always a definite feeling of fall in the air once September hits, no matter what the temperature is. That's undeniable.
In fact, when it comes to seasons changing, I mostly follow the meteorological way of thinking.
And that thought process, at least for us up here in Michigan, goes along the lines of ---
Spring: March 1 to May 31
Summer: June 1 to August 31
Autumn: September 1 to November 30
~Winter: December 1 to February 28 (or February 29 during a leap year)
~To be honest, this is (mostly) the way I think of our seasons~
And so this week's post will be a celebration of Autumn, with all photos herein taken between September 1st and middle October. No real history lessons, other than a few notations here and there. Just an enjoyable look at Autumn 2025 at Greenfield Village.
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Let's begin on September 1st - Labor Day Monday - the beginning of meteorological fall :
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Doot doot doo lookin' out my back door
Firestone Farm~ |
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| Firestone Farm in Greenfield Village features Shorthorn cattle, a breed chosen to authentically represent the type of livestock the Firestone family likely owned in the late 19th century. |
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| I was relaxing on the Firestone porch, sitting in the rocking chair and enjoying the day, when I caught one of the Firestone presenters as she strolled along Firestone Lane, making for a perfect country farm photo from the past. |
Labor Day then the weekend after is
Old Car Festival. Usually for Old Car Festival we'll have a warm day but a relatively cool evening.
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September 6 - Old Car Festival.
Fall is in the air!
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| This picture, also a 9-11, seems to show the dividing line between summer and fall. |
And right square in the center is my house...the Daggett House.
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| The girls working on this day were kind enough to pose for me - something a bit different than the usual. |
Six days later finds us in mid-September:
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| It's the 17th of September, and the Greenfield Village entrance gives a hint of the natural beauty inside the gates. |
Due to the colors looking better than anywhere else at that time in the Village, I snapped most pictures of the Ford home and yard on September 17.
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September 17 seemed to come awfully fast - and peaking through some bushes I saw this scene, so I snapped the camera...and it turned out exactly as I hoped it would!
Nature-framed!
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What a difference one week can make.
This is why if you like this time of year, get your hiny out to enjoy it before it's over! |
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| September 17 --- The beauty in the Ford yard! |
And just eight days later, on September 25, I was back again.
I suppose that's what I'm really enjoying about being retired---I can go to Greenfield Village as often as I'd like!
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Late September - the 25th -
The Ford Home - note the squirrel in the lower center of the picture. |
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Here we have the Phoenixville Post Office and Apothecary, built in Connecticut in 1825.
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Still on September 25 - - - -
I enjoy walking around the Cotswold Cottage, especially knowing how old it is. It was built the same year the pilgroms - the puritans - left the British Isles to cross the Atlantic to settle in America.
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| Back to old England we go...to the Cotswolds... |
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Built in 1620, it really has that wonderful old world flavor.
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Something here to think about to look at this house with the right frame and time (taken from The History Page):
the Middle Ages was a period that took place between the fall of ancient Rome in 476 A.D. and the beginning of the 14th century. That's quite a long stretch of time. But it wasn't where people said, "Well, it's 476---time for a new era to begin!" As most periods, usually an event births a new ti8me in time, whether it's a war, a catastrophic event (like a major plague), or other signals of a new period.
During the Middle Ages, it's always been said that Europeans made few advances in science and art. Also known as the “Dark Ages,” the era is often branded as a time of war, ignorance, famine, and pandemics such as the Black Death.
Some researchers, however, believe that such grim depictions of the Middle Ages were greatly exaggerated. I tend to believe them.
Following the Middle Ages we had the Renaissance period. The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political, and economic “rebirth.” The Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists, and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce.
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| And the Cotswold Cottage was built during the later Renaissance period. |
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| The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization. |
And here we have an actual house from that period. Yeah, there may be a Michigan Renaissance Festival, but Greenfield Village has the real deal!
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Looking at the Daggett House from the back of Cotswold Cottage. Cotswold was built about 130 or so years before Sam Daggett built his.
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I then walked across the street to the Daggett House. This was the last Thursday of September, and also the last day these ladies would be working together. They switch houses somewhat seasonally.
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So when I asked the ladies of Daggett if I could get a group photo, they prepared to line up dutifully for one of the typical shots. But I asked them if they minded doing something different - not posing in the same usual manner.
Here are the pictures they came up with.
This first one (above) in the Daggett doorway...
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Look up at the top of the stairs:
a winnowing basket!
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You are aware that winnowing is a part of the wheat harvest process? That after the wheat is threshed, the winnowing basket is used to separate the wheat berries from the chaff by tossing the berries into the air so the chaff could blow away and the berries/grain will fall back into the basket, and then from there the remaining wheat berries could be ground into flour.
That's what this is - a winnowing basket.
Still wondering?
Try clicking
HERE
Right outside the house we can see the woodpile - a ric of wood - for the coming cooler weather.
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Still September 25...and fall can plainly be seen why it is oftentimes known as "fall."
Leaves are fallin' all around...it's time I was on my way... |
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Men of the 18th century would cut and prepare specific firewood for the many needs such as for cooking, warming, and laundry. Each chore had a specific wood type. And the amount of wood needed was impressive: in Colonial times farmers had to cut, split, and manage upwards of 40 cords of wood to keep their homes warm and their farms in operation. They were rare days that wood chopping was not done.
Did women of the time also chop wood?
Perhaps. I'm sure it depended on the situation. |
Yes, still on September 25~~
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There's the Plympton House as it looks from the side yard of the Daggett House.
 | A couple weeks later...bursting with color!
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I slowly made my way from the east end of the Village, and I hobbled my way toward the west side, stopping here and there along the way. I say "hobbled" because of my degenerative lower spine and sciatic nerve issues in my legs. But I still pushed my way through. I did stop at the Eagle Tavern.
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| This was one of the few times I did not ear at the Eagle Tavern. I, instead, took a few fall photos. Well, of the sign anyhow. |
I then made a rare visit to Smiths Creek visit. It's not that I don't like this building. I actually do very much, for there is a Thomas Edison connection. It's just not one of my stops very often.
I wrote a post about this depot, and a few others here in Michigan associated with Edison
HERE.
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| One of two entrances to the Smiths Creel Depot, built in 1858. |
From the depot I sauntered through Liberty Crafworks. As I did, I saw this scene and captured it:
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In the Liberty Craftworks area I see the dark gray weaving shop (1840) and the red
Tripp Up and Down Saw Mill from 1855. |
I very much enjoy Firestone Farm, for farm life in the 1880s comes alive like nowhere else. It is as close to witnessing a window to the past as one can have.
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| Peter's Field at Firestone Farm. |
Many assume Peter's Fields were named after a Firestone. But that's not the case. There is a placard near the front placed upon a rock that states:
"These fields, known as Peter's Fields, are dedicated to the memory of Peter H. Cousins Jr. curator of agriculture from 1969 to 1995.
We remain inspired by his deep convictions, superior scholarship, and belief in the history of ordinary folks.
Family, friends, and co-workers
September 1996"
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September 25-----This just might be my favorite spot at Firestone Farm to take a picture.
We see a corner of the heirloom apple orchard, the Martinsville Cider Mill, the west end of Peter's Fields, and a corner of the kitchen garden. Plus the dirt roads that leads us to the various places on the farm. |
Well, now, time for a little Rod Stewart:
It's late September and I really should be back at school~~~
Next week's Passion for the Past blog post - to be posted on October 31st---Hallowe'en itself! - will be a combination post about Hallowe'en and Harvest time, for Greenfield Village had a harvest weekend on September 27 & 28. But I am including a few pictures from my visit here...today...from that weekend that did not make the cut for next week's post. They are pretty much an over-flow.
Yep---so on September the 28th the weather felt more like August than late September, with highs in the lower-to-mid 80s. But no matter the heat---it still felt like Autumn.
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| Heading to the "Porches & Parlors section of Greenfield Village, "Where the homes of famous individuals and hardworking families depict life in America across time." |
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From Daggett it's a quick trip to the more urban Giddings House.
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Unfortunately, there are some flaws that occurred in the reconstruction of this house as was done inside Greenfield Village due to the men Ford entrusted in its disassembly. "...the present building has neither the size, shape, room arrangement, decorative detailing, or even a substantial portion of the physical components of the original. It is extremely doubtful that the present building even faintly resembles the the house owned by the Pearsons, Giddings, or any of the others."
However, the interior is still very much in the fashion of a colonial mid-18th century style house. Not one that John Giddings might recognize, but it does give us a good look and feel of an upscale home from almost 300 years ago.
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| ---- is ready for her tea party. |
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| Making sure the hired help is doing her job. |
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"We need hops - can you bring some out?"
Here at Daggett on September 27 & 28 18th century beer was brewed.
More on that in next week's post! |
On the evening of Satuday, October 4th, my family - most of my kids and all of my grandkids - visited Greenfield Village's ticketed Hallowe'en event. It almost didn't happen due to a power outage. Fortunately, the power was restored in time for us to attend, which is always a great time.
What I liked hearing were the comments made by the Daggett presenters that I saw a few days later who were working at the historic homes on the afternoon of October 4th: there was a power outage and the Daggett presenters had no idea!
That says a lot!
Anyhow, I am including a couple of Hallowe'en pictures here taken at the Village that early October night:
My favorite area at Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village is watching the Headless Horseman chase Ichabod Crane from the Washington Itving story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
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| They do a fine job recreating this scene. |
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| The front field of Firestone Farm is used for the adventure. |
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| The Loranger Gristmill looks properly creepy. |
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Through the trees we can see the Ford Home.
I like seeing the Harvest Moon peaking through the branches of the trees. |
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We were only two days away from the full moon.
Here it is shining over the Cotswold Cottage on the left and the Daggett House
in the middle (not seen in the darkness). |
My next blog post, to be "published" in about a week, will center on Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village as well as the Harvest Weekend.
Now we go to October 10
Every year, come October, the steam locomotives they have stop running during daytime hours. I'm not quite sure why, for it doesn't snow quite this early in the year (except for a very rare weather pattern), but they do run the trains at night for Hallowe'en. So this year, maybe in a way to sort of make up for this ride loss, they began to have a Fall Color Horse & Cart tour, which was, for me anyways, a great replacement.
On this October 10th, Norm & I dressed in colonial clothing.
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| Walking toward the cart and horses. |
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| This is a wonderful autumn edition! |
The next set of pictures are centered on this horse and cart ride/tour.
I have said repeatedly that knowing how popular cider mills are here in Michigan, that Greenfield Village tends to miss on the opportunity to combine the past with the current fall celebrations. Well, perhaps they've finally heard me, for every year they seem to be building more and more on that premise. A few pictures ago you saw the heirloom apple tour at Firestone Farm along with cider making with a small home press as well as the larger Martinsville Cider Press building. And now we have a Fall Color's tour horse & cart ride.
I've done this particular tour twice - October 10 and October 18 - so you'll see two different teams of horses - white horses now and brown horses a bit later on.
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| This tour only lasted about 20 minutes or so. |
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Passing by my favorite house.
The Daggett House has been at or near the top of my list seince my first visit to it back in 1983.
The Adams House is another I've always liked (and wish they'd re-open). |
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| Gigi saw us saunter past, the horses clip-clopping as we went at a gentle speed, and so she stepped out and gave us a wave. |
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Ed Davis, thankfully, caught this shot of us.
Since we got there as soon as the Village opened, there were no others on the ride with us. |
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| Another great snap by Ed Davis. |
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| And down a road less travelled... |
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This road is in an area designated "for employees only," so it was great to be able to have an official ride there.
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I took at least three dozen or more photos on this ride.
For the 40+ years I've been visiting Greenfield Village, I've never been along this path. |
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| From here we headed toward the back of the Cotswold Cottage and Forge. |
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This new seasonal experience is a winner!
As you can see, there are still many green leaves still on the trees. |
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And there's the Suwanee Lagoon, where the Suwanee Steamboat used to encircle.
I do wish they still had it. |
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Only hints of color on this October 10th, but still well-worth the ride.
I do plan to repeat this experience. |
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Norm and I both agreed that this ride was excellent.
I hope it continues in coming years. |
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He, in turn, snapped a pic of me.
He and I were the only two in the ride first thing that morning. |
One thing I need to add here: I have not worn the waistcoat I am wearing in the above picture since June of 2024, due to my...ahem...weight gain. I was heavy enough in the belly that I began popping the buttons, and I was popping veins in my head because of my frustration over my porkiness. So...I've been working on it by way of daily excersises and the 16 hour fasts. Oh, and eating less in general at each sitting.
Not necessarily dieting, but being more watchful on the amount of food intake.
Slowly, it's making a difference. I can fit again into my favorite waistcoat! Oh, it's still tight, but not button-popping tight. And I still have at least an inch or two of belly fat to go, and perhaps twenty more pounds total before I am satisfied. But I'm on the right track!
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| Back to where it began. |
Off the ride and we hoofed ourselves down to the Daggett House.
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| Another group of rides move past. |
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| Norm & I visiting the ladies of Daggett. |
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October 10
Gigi working with an umbrella swift.
An umbrella swift is a textile-working device utilized to hold a hank of yarn in place
while it is being wound into a yarn ball. The umbrella swift is a common type
of swift developed in the United States during the eighteenth century. |
For lunch we ate at the Eagle Tavern again, a favorite spot to stop and eat.
It really is something that not only can we dine in an actual tavern that was built nearly 200 years ago, but that we can also enjoy the same atmosphere and fare as if it were 1850.
And it looks even better in the midst of Autumn’s splendor.
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| Waiting for my roast beef... |
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My friend Mary snapped this shot of Norm and I at the original tavern hearth.
No, this restaurant does not employ hearth cooking here in the 21st century - I don't think the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development nor the local health departments would deem the food cooked on the hearth safe to eat.
I added the fire through computer trickery. |
I returned a week later and the colors - the fall foliage - really started showing itself.
The majority of the pictures I took on that October 18 was of the beauty of Autumn. The weather was in the lower 70s and the sun was shining.
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| October 18 - The entrance gates. |
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Just like the previous week, I wanted to take the fall color tour of the Village and
beyond by way of horse & cart. So, while waiting for the driver to pull up,
I snapped a few, like this one. |
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| Now here is my favorite photo of the day: the Eagle Tavern, a replicated New England church, and an 1850s hostess - all surrounded by the beauty of Autumn. |
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| Looking across the Village Green, we could see the horse and cart make its way in our direction. |
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I have seen many fall photos taken in the northern part of Michigan, and it truly is filled with color. However, I feel adding the past to the fall foliage only improves the look, for, to me, Autumn is the most wooden time of year---the sights of the leaves, the smells of bonfires, and oftentimes a nip in the air. Now add history and traditions...which I have seen some take great shots with an old barn or school house in the background. That adds so much.
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| On our journey, I snapped the opposite side of the Village Green. |
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| Only one week and a pretty decent difference in fall colors. |
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| A splash of color when compared to the previous week. |
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Wouldn't it be great to see more harvest activities occuring here?
I've been told heirloom apple trees - the Snow Apple - will soon be planted here.
I can't wait to see what the plans are in utilizing them! |
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| Even without a ton of fall foliage, it still was a beautiful ride. |
Many of the following picture were taken based only on the idea of giving off that fall feeling and atmosphere. I put the date the photo was taken with each picture.
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| October 18 |
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| October 18 |
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October 18
The houses you see in the distance there are the backs of the houses normally seen from the front. |
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October 18
Ah---the gray house is the Giddings House from the mid-18th century. |
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| October 18 |
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| October 18 |
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| October 18 |
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| On are way back to the Eagle Tavern. |
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| There was a decorative autumn wreath attached to the front of the cart so I tried to do something a little artsy. |
My son Robbie & I decided to dine inside the tavern where he enjoyed a roasted chicken and I had a beef roast.
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Me getting artsy in my photography lol
I noticed the teams of horses through the tavern window, so I thought I'd try taking a picture of that as well as the lit candle on our table which was surrounded by a glass cover. |
We walked from the tavern to the far east side of the Village, where my favorite colonial homes stand. As we were walking I snapped numerous photos of some of the beautiful colors.
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| October 18th. |
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| Watching the fall tour with the horses and cart is just as nice from a-top of the hill. |
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| October 18 |
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| The side of the Giddings House. |
John Giddings was a shipping merchant, and being as such he would have carried a variety of goods determined by trade routes, seasonal availability, and shifting consumer demands, which could mean he may have had a mix of recently harvested colonial goods, including processed textiles such as flax (which would have already been woven into linen).
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| The front of the Giddings House. |
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| There's my favorite house during my favorite season! |
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| Being fairly warm for mid-October, Gigi opened the windows. |
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| The busy ladies of Daggett, just as they would have been 250 years ago. |
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| October 18 |
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The red William Ford Barn was built in 1863 - the same year as Henry's birth - by Henry Ford's father, William. It was originally located across the road from the family homestead and stored grain and hay and, at times, tools and livestock. Now, horses are kept there. |
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The Birthplace of Henry Ford.
The last historic building Henry Ford had personally moved to Greenfield Village before his death in 1947 was the first one he preserved: his family homestead in Springwells Township, Michigan (now Dearborn, Michigan). It was in this house, on July 30, 1863, in which Henry Ford, the first of William and Mary's six children, was born. |
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The Birthplace of Henry Ford.
In 1919, highway officials decided to extend Greenfield Road, which was becoming a major thoroughfare, southward, and this extension would cut through the Ford farm. Unfortunately, the homestead was directly in the proposed road's path. The family's decision to move the house and the outbuildings farther back on the property to be clear of the road prompted Ford's first restoration project.
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| Again, back at Liberty Craftworks we can see and feel the Autumn buzz. |
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| This is another angle where I enjoy picture taking, for it has the true appeal of a country road. |
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This is on the otherside of Peter's Field.
We can see the pumpkins along the fence and the corn shocks set up for the Hallowe'en event. |
These last three images were taken on Friday, October 24:
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| Waiting to take another fall tour ride. |
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Does this not look like Autumn in Philadelphia?
But it's not - it's right there in Dearborn. Michigan!
The main entrance to The Henry Ford Museum~ |
I know I know...perhaps my weakest commentary...but I wanted mainly to post the photos. The commentary is for my own identification - Blogspot sometimes has a nasty habit of having photos disappear.
I can easily include hundreds of photos taken this year along, but I tried to keep it to around...one hundred. For years I have claimed Greenfield Village to be the best place to visit in the fall. I never tire of it and probably have taken more photos this season of the year there than anywhere else.
I barely touched on Harvest time and Hallowe'en, whichh will be posted here next week.
Oh, and don't be surprised to see another post on this subject at least one more time this year.
Until next time, see you in time.
HERE is one of my favorite posts on this same subject.
To learn about autumn's 18th century early American past, please click
HERETo learn about autumn's 19th century Victorian past, please click
HERE
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