For me, this autumnal tour of Greenfield Village is a picture-book collection with my main purpose being to have my own personal souvenir of the 2024 fall season that I hope others will like as well. It's filled with photos - over a hundred - though there are bits of information and commentary with each. I hope you enjoy my documentation of the autumn season at Greenfield Village.
Fall exudes the past, and that's what's here.
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Now, let's begin our autumn journey:
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| Daggett House~ You may not think it, but there is a lot of history in this one photograph: |
This image was captured in mid-to-late September in *1765* at the Daggett House, and we will see raspberries, pumpkins, plums, broccoli, corn, onions, and all kinds of other fruits and vegetables ready for harvesting. In fact, one of America’s oldest native crops, pumpkins, were an important staple long before Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered them, and they were cultivated independently by the Native peoples of North and South America.
Almost every early European explorer commented on the large amount of pumpkins in the New World. Columbus mentioned them on his first voyage, Jacques Cartier records their growing in Canada in the 1530s, Cabeza de Vaca saw them in Florida the 1540s, as did Hernando de Soto in the 1550s.
A few Europeans also described how the Indian women prepared their pumpkins.
The first Pilgrims brought onions, which are a vegetable, with them on the Mayflower. Onions were planted in Massachusetts in 1629 and in Virginia in 1648. The founding father known to be a great onion eater, George Washington, seemed passionate about them, and ordered onions to be planted at Mount Vernon, according to a 1798 report. Thomas Jefferson left detailed accounts that show that onions were a staple crop on his Virginia estate, Monticello, before, during, and after the Revolutionary War, and even on land he owned before construction began on the estate in 1769.
Though not necessarily an autumn accessory, leather drinking vessels have been around since about 1030 A.D. and spanned through the 18th century, with some styles even extending into the early 19th century. Some common names for these include tavern jack, leather jack, and pint jack.
History at every turn…
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| Labor Day Weekend, to me, is the entrance to fall. This photo was taken on Labor Day Monday. Hints of fall can be seen... |
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| One of the colonial ladies from Daggett saunters past the Cotswold Cottage. |
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| And here we have the picturesque Burbank Birthplace from about 1800. I laughed at those who were seemingly horrified at the prospect of leaf color changes already occurring in late August and early September. We're on God's time/Earth's time, not man's calendar time! |
As we continue on into September, the decorations for the Hallowe'en event begin to slowly be seen, such as the orange and black flags seen in the next picture.
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| Welcome to the turn of the 20th century. On the left we have the birthplace of Orville Wright. This was also the childhood home for Wilbur. And, of course, their sister Katherine. |
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| Harvesting the field corn and putting them up in shocks. The pumpkins are all part of the "three sisters" planting of corn, green beans, and pumpkins. |
“The most popular pumpkins today are grown to be porch décor rather than pie filling,” says history professor James E. McWilliams of Texas State University and the author of Revolution in Eating. “They dominate the industry because of their durability, uniform size (about 15 pounds), orange color, wart-less texture, and oval shape.” Mass production of these poor-tasting pumpkins is a $5 billion a year industry today. McWilliams calls them “a culinary trick without the treat” and accuses them of being “food in name only.”
Edible pumpkins have not been entirely forgotten. Heirloom pumpkin seeds are available for those who want to grow the old-fashioned kind, and farmer’s markets and upscale grocery stores sometimes carry older, tasty varieties.
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| Carrying the feed corn for the barn animals. |
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| Autumn is always the best time of year to be here! |
Still in mid-to-late September, I, of course, made it over to Daggett.
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| I've been studying and researching this house and its original inhabitants for decades. I'm just drawn to it. |
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| Pumpkins out the front door. |
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| Looking for the right wood to make knitting needles. |
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| Chuck was on the shaving horse, making knitting needles for the ladies. |
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| Melissa was very happy at the gift she received. |
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| The ladies were busy in the kitchen, preparing a fine colonial meal to be cooked over the open hearth. |
So now I am here for the single weekend - the last weekend in September - devoted somewhat to the fall harvest.
Back in the day, Greenfield Village would have two full weekends dedicated to the fall harvest. I wrote about them:
Then...it ended---the celebrations went out the window. They used covid as their excuse, but even though the covid scare is gone (except for a few folks) the Fall Harvest at the Village has not really come back with any kind of real fervor. In fact, for 2020 and 2021, not at all.
However, beginning in in 2022 (they must've heard from a few folk like me), Greenfield Village eked out --- and I mean eked out --- a fall harvest weekend - a single weekend --- and not only cutting it down to one weekend, but cutting way back on the fall harvest activities.
As I wrote back in 2019:
Aside from the special "Holiday Nights" event at Christmas time, I believe it is the two weekends of the Fall Flavors/Fall Harvest that have the most buildings staffed with period-dressed presenters. During the final weekend in September and the first weekend in October visitors can find the following historic structures housed with presenters wearing period-correct clothing:
~Cohen's Millinery Shop
~Daggett Farm House
~Eagle Tavern
~Edison Homestead
~Firestone Farmhouse and Barn
~Ford Farm
~Giddings House
~Grimm Jewelry Shop
~J.R. Jones General Store
~Mattox Family Home
~McGuffey Cabin
That's a big bang for your buck!
And they had something from the harvest happening in each structure!
So, nothing for 2020 or 2021.
But then, in 2022:
And today's post covers 2024.
It's nowhere near what it was only a few years ago, but at least we have something, and for that I suppose I should be grateful (lol), right? And I do try to make the best of it.
On a plus side - rumor has it the heirloom apple tasting tour will be back next year - now that's a plus!
On a plus side - rumor has it the heirloom apple tasting tour will be back next year - now that's a plus!
For some odd reason, this year Greenfield Village decided to close up for the month of October. They've not done that before. I mean, yes, they've closed the houses up but at least kept the Village open for "strolling days" for the membership, where autumn shines.
Not this year.
Such a disappointment. They need to remain open for October in some form. Or if they're not, cut us a better deal on the membership price. Sadly, they did this to December a couple of decades ago - yes, the Village used to be open for daytime hours on weekends in December, but that ended.
Now October.
Will November be next? They'll definitely lose me if that's the case.
So, with that being said, their last weekend open to public was the final weekend in September. Norm and I, along with friend Karen, decided to go dressed in our colonial garb. And it just so happened to be their one and only Harvest Weekend. |
| The 1861 Ford Home is one of the first most people see upon walking through the gates, so I like to take seasonal pictures - once a visit from the same spot. For this picture I love the ominous-looking clouds. |
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| I see the red William Ford Barn from 1863 and the white 1861 Henry Ford Birthplace Farm House. This picture was taken from the train, so we get a slightly different angle. Sort of a more rural-looking angle. |
While they've only given us this one weekend, I was going to make the most of it. Sadly, I could not go on Saturday as well, for I had other commitments, but I was there with my friends on Sunday.
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| Preparing for the Hallowe'en extravaganza event. And I believe that's why they no longer go all out for the fall harvest as they used to, because it doesn't bring in the money that Hallowe'en does. |
Historians have recorded harvest celebrations and ceremonies as occurring throughout the world: on every continent and in all lands where agriculture could be had - no matter the culture - there were harvest gatherings and celebrations. This is as much as a part of human history as anything else. So why not treat it with a bit more reverence and importance?
(Sorry about the complaints - you have to remember that I've been coming here for over 40 years, and I remember the days when it was top-notch. It needs to get back to those days)~
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| Beer brewing has been going on at Daggett for years, and each time is just as fascinating as the previous year. That's Norm and Karen there - none of us are Greenfield employees, but we came dressed on this day! |
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| As you should know, the Daggett House, from the early 1750s, is my favorite house and has been at or near the top of my list since the first time I'd visited it back in 1983 - yes, 1983! |
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| It's too bad I'm not a beer drinker...lol But I like this angle for it shows very clear the slanted "saltbox" roof. |
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| There are not too many areas where one who reenacts the 18th century/Revolutionary War period can get some authentic photos like what can be taken at the Daggett House. And that's one of the main reasons why I do this sort of period dress visit. |
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| The Burbank House was built around the year 1800, so dressing in more of an 18th century fashion is very acceptable here as well. |
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| You see Norm, Karen, and I dining at the Eagle Tavern. Most taverns from these earlier periods have changed little over the years. If you visit one from, say, 1770, you would probably not see a great change when comparing it to one like the Eagle from 1831 |
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| After all of my complaining, here's a nice surprise: after years of being dormant, they opened up and actually used the Martinsville Cider Mill! |
Sweet and hard cider, as well as cider vinegar, were important orchard byproducts essential to the economy of rural communities. In the 1800's, farmers could haul their apples to cider mills like this one to have them ground and pressed into cider. The cider making equipment in this building came from a mill in Martinsville, Michigan.
Cider was the most popular drink of the 19th century.
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| From what I understand, because this is not pasteurized, they cannot sell it to the visiting public. I remember the days when they could... |
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| Apples for pressing...or a vignette? |
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| By late September, the Village was preparing for the Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village event. And I posed near the Loranger Gristmill from 1832. This time of year was perhaps the busiest for millers. |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow visited Howe Tavern in 1862 and consequently wrote a series of poems focused on a group of fictitious characters that regularly gathered there. Published in 1863 as Tales of a Wayside Inn, they brought the Inn to a level of national significance, which continues to this day, in no small part due to Henry Ford. Before his own Greenfield Village (and Rockefeller's Colonial Williamsburg), Henry Ford acquired the Wayside Inn as a centerpiece of his vision of a colonial village, and for over six years, the auto-magnet spent more than $2 million restoring the structure and several adjacent buildings there in Sudbury, Massachusetts:
"One Autumn night, in Sudbury town,Across the meadows bare and brown,
The windows of the wayside inn
Gleamed red with fire-light through the leaves
Of woodbine, hanging from the eaves
Their crimson curtains rent and thin.
As ancient is this hostelry
As any in the land may be,
Built in the old Colonial day,
When men lived in a grander way,
With ampler hospitality..."
(prelude to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Tales of the Wayside Inn" from 1863)
Henry Ford's idea to create Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan began to take shape in 1926. I had heard it was because, in those days of what was still arduous travel, Ford wanted his Village near his home, rather than taking the then much longer journey from Michigan to Massachusetts. By choosing Dearborn, his historic village would nearly be in his back yard. And that's why I included this photo of The Wayside Inn.
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The actual Wayside Inn, still located in Sudbury, Massachusetts - built in 1716 and restored by Henry Ford in 1923, six years before he created and opened Greenfield Village. I include this picture to give the reader a slight background of Greenfield Village. |
But back to Greenfield Village:
Before covid they used to have two full harvest weekends where all sorts of period activities would take place at the historic homes throughout the Village. Now it's down to one, sadly. And most of the activities have gone by the wayside (click HERE for an example of how wonderful the harvest used to be).
"But Ken," you say, "I thought you loved Greenfield Village! Why are you complaining?"
The thing is, I complain because do love Greenfield Village. And I've heard plenty of others complain as well. We don't want to see this wonderful place of history lose its historic vision. It's also, sadly, closed to the public and members for the month of October, unless one has a ticket to the Hallowe'en event. And it's during this event that Greenfield Village has decided to include harvest activities. In other words, in order to enjoy the fall colors and the fall harvest activities, you need to purchase tickets - no longer free with membership.
They trapped me and, wanting to enjoy autumn there as bad as I did, I ended up buying those "extra" tickets...for two separate nights.
Yeah...I'm a sucker.
However, since I already did my post on Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village (HERE), the photos for this posting will center on the fall colors and more harvest activities. Since the two visits I made were within six days of each other, I will put the two together as a sort of single cohesive visit.
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| On this first Autumn/Hallowe'en visit I wore my 1770s clothing in hopes of getting some decent fall-past pictures. |
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| Free horse and cart rides are available. It's a short ride, but nice. |
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| This orange tree has a look of fire in the sunlight! |
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| Autumn in the city~ A circa 1903 city! |
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| Looking across Ackley Pond toward the Edison Homestead. |
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| In this shot we can see the Burbank Birthplace (the red house), and the Edison Homestead there on the right, which once belonged to Thomas Edison's grandparents. |
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| Heading toward Daggett~ I have said repeatedly that Greenfield Village shows the autumn time of year better than anywhere else. In fact, it almost emits a sort of New England atmosphere. |
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| We were blessed to have a clear sunny day for both our visits. Sadly, they roped off the far end of the Village so no visitors could go past. Just...wow. But I was able to take a very nice shot from the roped off border. |
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| Welcome to the Renaissance - the 1620 Cotswold Cottage from England. |
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| And then I attached my zoom lens to get this close-up Daggett Farm House picture. It almost looks like I'm in the Cotswold Cottage yard---but I'm not. I cannot and do not understand why - - I mean, they hired guards to ensure no one would sneak through! In all the years I've been going to Greenfield Village, I've never heard of such a thing. I'm sure Henry Ford is not smiling at this. |
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| I took this from the train ride. |
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| There is a fairly steep incline behind the row of houses in the Porches & Parlors area, and it had this popping view. I enjoy when green leaves can still be seen amongst the other colors. |
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| At the bottom of the incline is the Suwanee Lagoon, where Greenfield Village used to have a steamboat ride. The lagoon is still there---the steamboat, sadly, has been scrapped. |
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| At one point, as I was walking along, I looked up and snapped this. It was much brighter and engulfing in person, but this didn't do too bad. |
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| Now imagine this being a dirt road...I can only imagine... |
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| For the month of October we were blessed with bright sunlight (unlike the thick gray cloud covering we got in November). |
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| Walking through Autumn... |
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| My wife, Patty, amongst the Canadian geese and fallen leaves. |
Meanwhile, the past continued to jump out at us here and there - - -
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Over at the McGuffey School House, the ladies were dyeing wool using methods from the 18th century.
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This was something they used to do at the Daggett House, but I was told they felt people didn't want to walk all the way down there to see this (shhh! they're wrong!). So Patty & I hung around to watch, as we've done for over two decades. It's always a fascinating watch.
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| "As you can see from the pictures here, the colonists had access to many a color – perhaps more than what many of us imagine." Jordan Taylor |
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| "It was a perfect day for wool dyeing in the way of the colonial time period, and just about the time of year that Anna Daggett herself may have had some time to experiment with colors." Jordan Taylor |
According to what Jordan wrote back in 2014: "Deep browns from black walnuts gathered around the Village, a range of gorgeous magentas that came from the bark of brazil wood – native to South America. Oranges from henna, madder root, and annatto seed (which is still a product used today to give the color to many a cheese we find in the grocery store!), and denim blues from indigo – a dye product that Anna Daggett would have had to purchase as it was not native to the colonies in 1760. Pinks came from pokeberry, an inedible berry to humans, and from cochineal, part of a beetle who feeds off a prickly pear cactus – also something that Anna would have had to purchase. Alkanet gave a range of silvery blue grays and a green skein, and logwood provided deep purples. Yellows came from the buds and petals of plants like tansy and calendula, found in the Daggett garden."
Now, I am not sure if the ladies here at McGuffey used these dyes or possibly others, but those that Jordan mentioned were definitely used back in the 18th century. I do imagine many, if not all, were also used here as well.
Jordan is now a Collections Specialist at The Henry Ford (where Greenfield Village is located), but she used to work as a presenter inside the Village. Sadly, we don't get to see her anymore, but if you search on the search box of this blog, she'll probably pop up.
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| Here we have Gigi - I watched as she held a group of youngsters - 10 year olds! - in the palm of her hand! I mean, what kid that age is going to listen to a presentation about dyeing wool? Yet, she had them in her grasp! That takes a special person---a special presenter~ |
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| Chuck and Jane were inside the school making colonial-era beer, as was done just a few weeks earlier at Daggett.
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| A hungry Canadian goose. They had been feasting on the pumpkins all month long. |
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| Must've scared 'em - they honked loudly as the flew near us. |
Now we seem to have jumped over to New England - - -
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| The Martha-Mary Chapel |
This non-denominational chapel design was based on a Universalist church in Bradford, Massachusetts. The bricks and the doors came from the building in which Henry Ford and Clara Bryant were married in 1888 - the Bryant family home in old Greenfield Township (from which the Village name was taken), and the bell, according to the 1933 guide book, was cast by Joseph Warren Revere, the son of Paul Revere.
The name "Martha-Mary" came from the first names of his mother and mother-in-law.
Sticking by his original New England village plan, Ford made sure that the steeple of the church was the highest point in Greenfield Village. This was as it was in most towns across America. Once a very religious nation, towns and villages were built around the place of worship, and the buildings of the towns were never taller than the church steeple, therefore, no matter where a townsfolk was at, they could always find the church because of its height.
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| East of the church. Behind the bright red tree. |
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| And there we have Town Hall on the left, facing opposite of the church, and the Eagle Tavern there directly across from where I was standing to take this picture. |
As Patty and I moved about, snapping the natural beauty that is autumn, we came upon the William Ford barn and yard, which now houses horses.
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| This barn was built in 1863 - the same year as Henry's birth - by Henry's father, William, at Springwells Township, Michigan. It was originally located across the road from the family homestead and stored grain and hay and, at times, tools and livestock. Note the glow from the trees as the late afternoon sun sets its rays upon them. |
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| When Henry Ford built his museum of America, he included an exact replication of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. |
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| As the sun sets through the autumn trees, this horse almost seems to be glowing. |
The animals at Greenfield Village are very well-maintained throughout the year. Even when the Village is closed, workers on staff come in daily - every day of the year, including holidays
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| The horse handlers carry out various daily activities including feeding and grooming, and there are vets at the ready to care for the horse's health, while the horses themselves, besides giving carriage rides, also plow, harrow, and cultivate. |
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| The 1832 Loranger Gristmill - one of the most important buildings of that time, for here is where the farmer took his grain to get ground into flour. |
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| The look of the gristmills changed little from the 1700s - the time I am dressed for - to the 1800s - the period of the gristmill behind me. Inner workings, however, did change, including where some mills went from a water=powered grinding mill to a roller mill in the later 19th century. |
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| The Village has the Firestone Farm field all prepared for the Hallowe'en and the Headless Horseman. But it's a beautifully traditional sight with the corn set up in shocks, especially when a few historic 19th century buildings are captured at the same time: from left, though hard to see we have the Firestone Farm, and then the bank barn, and then the little red cider mill, and, on the right, the Loranger Gristmill. |
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| Taken from the train ride: looking somewhat in the opposite direction of the previous photo. |
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| A little bit of a haze...almost, but not quite, a light fog. |
The Hunter's Moon comes once a year and is always the next full moon after autumn's Harvest Moon
in September. Similarly, the hunter's moon is also particularly bright and long in the sky, giving hunters the opportunity to stalk prey at night.
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Leaves are falling all around It's time I was on my way Thanks to you I'm much obliged For such a pleasant stay But now it's time for me to go The autumn moon lights my way (lyrics from Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On") |
All the leaves are brown...and the sky is gray...I've been on a walk...to see Daggett today...
Since I couldn't visit my favorite house in October, this is where I scurried to first thing.
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| Norm & I decided to dress in our period clothing on this 1st day of November. |
There are those who feel fall is over once the leaves lie on the ground, all brown and dead. But that can be the best part of the season, for if there is a bite - a nip - in the air, it can make you feel alive!
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| Inside the Daggett great hall, the ladies were preparing their noon-time meal. |
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| Fall still reigns as we see the colors of the dyed wool and the trees down the road still holding onto their seasonal magic. Yes, autumn is still all around! |
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| The kitchen garden, for the most part, has given up its yield. But the asparagus plant sure has a burnt-yellowy-green glow about it. |
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| Pumpkins to be cooked, perhaps for their Thanksgiving harvest meal. |
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| There is still some bright color left on a few of the trees. |
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| The Eagle Tavern and the Martha-Mary Chapel. |
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| The Eagle Tavern is my favorite place to eat. I very much like that they change their menu seasonally so we, as diners, will eat food at the time of year it was meant to be eaten. |
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| Part of the dining experience is the atmosphere... |
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| ...you are eating in a place that was built nearly 200 years ago... |
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| ...and even the staff dresses in the fashions they would have worn around 1850. |
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| And there's not too many restaurants where one can look out the window and see a log cabin - a memorial to George Washington Carver! |
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| On the left we have the 1832 Loranger Gristmill. The dark building in the center is the Weaving Shop from about 1840. And that red building is the Tripp Up and Down Saw Mill from 1855. |
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| That's me surrounded by history: The brick building on the left was the Fairfield Rice Mill but is now the Pottery Shop, built originally in the year 1787. The wooden structure behind me is the Spofford Saw Mill, which is from the late 1600s. And the dark building on the right is the Weaving Shop, built in 1840 as a cotton gin used for separating the seeds from the cotton. I used this picture as my current Facebook profile picture. |
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| Firestone Farm. Welcome to 1885 |
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| Usually we see the guys working out in the field, but on this November 1st day I found them in back working on making a barrier, of which the name escapes me. |
So let's jump up two weeks to November 15. See the seasonal changes - - I love this time of year and some of my fondest memories are right here:
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| The two pictures here of the Daggett Farmhouse seems to capture later fall in all of its rugged glory. It is interesting to note that when this "Wells Saltbox House" / “Connecticut Saltbox House” (as it was known during its early years at Greenfield Village) was acquired by Greenfield Village, it had very little attached history to it. Just the basics and enough to make its acquisition worth while. It wasn’t until after it was brought and reconstructed at the Village that any deep research was done on the family who once lived in it. But it took time to dig up the information that we now consider common knowledge. So here in the 2020s we know that the builder and original owner was a man named Samuel Daggett, who married Ann Bushnell on April 17, 1754, in Lebanon, Connecticut. It's said (or assumed) he built the house for her when they married, but my own research (and reason) tells me he may have built it a few years before, perhaps closer to 1750.
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| Cotswold Cottage - built around 1620 in England, this is a true Renaissance house! |
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| In fact, this scene, to me, has a very English feel to it. |
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| This is from the forge window. I had to stretch my arm to capture this image, for there was a barrier preventing me from looking out the window in the direction I hoped to. |
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| From inside the cottage itself, I snapped this picture of the Daggett House. |
Back to the Eagle Tavern we went - those that were with me - for a wonderful repast of beef stew. I would swear my mom was in their kitchen making it---that's how good it is!
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| Now we are just about two weeks out until Thanksgiving on this date - notice what's walking across the Village Green? Yep - a turkey! |
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| John made sure the fire inside the tavern was blazing. |
Everyone knows my favorite building is the colonial Daggett House. But did I ever tell you my second favorite? It's the 1885 Firestone Farm - a real working farm.
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| The horses are lead from the stable to be hitched to a cart. There's work to be done!
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| Preparing the horses for hitching. |
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| They walked the horses to the cart and backed them up to it. |
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| Morgan sits in the seat - now everyone's ready to head out to the field. |
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| And off they go - - As you can see, as it is inside Greenfield Village, Firestone Farm sits on seven to eight acres of land, ample enough to show outdoor farm life in 1885. And they most certainly do! |
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| On the left we see the rather sparse heirloom apple orchard. New trees have been planted to replace those that have died, so we shall soon see more in that orchard. And I see the little red cider mill where apples can be pressed into cider. Upper center we have the Firestone Field where the corn and wheat grew earlier this year. The corn stalks now stand in shocks. We can also see the farmers heading out to the field to prepare it for next year’s planting. In the distance toward the right I see the gray Soybean Experimental Laboratory which houses historic farm tools (the name of this building should be changed to better represent its holdings), and then on the right we see the harvested kitchen garden and the edge of the bank barn. |
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| And from the opposite end we can see, on the left in the far distance, the Firestone Farm House and bank barn, the little red dot of a building barely seen in the center is the cider mill, the shocks of corn standing in the field, and the gristmill there on the right. |
And then, on a last minute whim, I went back two days later, on November 17, only this time my son, Robbie, came with me.
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| All early 19th century here: The white house in the distance was built by Noah Webster in 1822. The house center-right was built by Thomas Edison's grandparents in 1816. And on the right we have the edge of the Ackley Covered Bridge from 1832. |
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| Two houses that belong together: this red Plympton House from the early 1700s, and the gray Daggett House from the mid-1700s. In between we see the Farris Windmill from the mid-1600s. All originally brought here to Michigan from New England. |
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| Back to Firestone Farm we go~ Why so many pictures of the same buildings? Mostly to see the seasonal changes. |
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| Sam and Tom shelling beans. When a young visitor came into the house with his parents, Tom gave him a couple so he could join in the fun. I like when the presenters will get the kids - and even the adults - involved. That's what my older two kids remember when I used to bring them here back when they were tiny tots - before reenacting. My younger two, growing up in the reenacting world, have been doing things like this all of their lives. |
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| When my son and I walked over to the cows, they seemed to rather enjoy the company. They moo'd to us and even tried to lick Robbie's hand. |
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| See that gray building there? That's the Soybean Experimental Laboratory, which houses historic farm tools, everything from scythes & sickles to flails to draw knives to...well. whatever tool a 19th century (and earlier) farmer could/would use. I find it especially interesting, for when I see the farmers out working in the fields, I'll see them using some of the tools on display inside the building. |
I went back the following weekend - November 22 - for it only had two more weekends before daytime closing until mid-April 2025.
Again, my visit was a dreary weather day, with a light snow the night before and spits of rain following. Yes, the temps were nippy. But what a day it was!
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| The sun is hidden behind low, thick clouds, hanging over my favorite house. |
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| And then turning to my left, here comes an 18th century woman, stepping through time and place as she passes the 1750s New Hampshire Giddings House and the 1620 Cotswold Cottage from England. |
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| And heads over to the Daggett House, built in the 1750s but maintained as the 1760s. |
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| What is it about this house that has such a hold of me? |
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| Everything! It is exactly what I would imagine I would live in had I been living in its time...as a farmer... |
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| The ladies working Daggett on this day... |
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| And Elda pours a cup of tea, since this is before the Boston Tea Party~ |
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| This scene just jumped out at me: the Ackley Covered Bridge, a bit of the gazebo, and the Burbank Birthplace. Oh! And a few Canadian geese walking about. |
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| It's not often that one can be a witness to 1885 farm life, and over the decades it was the activities here that drew me more into social history life and past farming practices than anywhere or anything else has. And look---the exterior is decorated for Christmas! That hasn't happened in a few years. |
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| One of the pleasures of visiting historic villages on damp and cool and dingy days is oftentimes we get to enjoy a fire in the sitting room...at least we do at Firestone Farm. |
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| Larissa kept the home fires burning in the sitting room hearth. |
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| Seeing the exterior porch garland from an inside window - this is looking out the dining room window. Window pictures are some of my favorites - - more coming! |
In days gone by, every-so-often a presenter would sometimes take us into areas not normally seen by the public, but since covid (always blame covid!), that does not happen very often at all. Except on this November 22 when a few of us were able to get a tour of the 2nd floor of the Firestone Farm House. It's been years since I've been up there, and the two friends with me have never been...so this was a pretty cool thing for all of us!
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| There was a time when the 2nd floor of Firestone Farm House was a part of the "tour" but because there is only one entrance and exit, it was understandably deemed a fire hazard and now is a "special occasions" visit by the public. But it is still furnished with the decor of the 1880s as if the Firestones still lived there. The room on the left was ----- , and the room on the right was Harvey Firestone's room. |
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| Upon my previous upstairs visits, this small shelf with the deer and candlesticks stood out in my mind, so I made sure to get a decent shot of it. |
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| Looking our the window from --- room eyeing the bank barn. That's the side porch in the bottom right here. |
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| A better view overlooking the side porch toward the dairy barn and apple orchard. |
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| From the front of the 2nd floor looking toward the rear. |
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| Looking out the front window toward the path leading up to the house. |
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| That's it right there - - - - and the light is coming from the front window. |
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| Grandma Sally's rocker: the story goes that sometimes, when a presenter is all alone inside the house, this rocker can be heard rocking. |
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| Grandma Sally's sitting room. |
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| More of Grandma Sally's sitting room. |
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| The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Firestone. |
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| The bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Firestone. |
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| The bedroom of Harvey Firestone. |
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| The bedroom of Harvey Firestone. |
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| I see Kiera preparing to go out into the cold. |
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| Okay - we're done upstairs---time to head back down. |
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| Group shot at the bottom of the stairs. That's me at the front, Mary to the left, and Jen on top. |
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| Looking at the formal parlor from the other side. |
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| Our hostess with the mostess! |
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| Larissa opened up the front door for us, which I thought was a simple but very awesome (for us) gesture: |
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| I spy Kiera returning...moving down the dirt pathway toward the house. |
From the 2nd floor down to the cellar we go - - -
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| Where Larissa gets wood for the sitting room fireplace. |
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| It's also where the coal for the kitchen stove is stored. |
I have been blessed to have had numerous opportunities to celebrate autumn throughout the season...throughout harvest time. It's my favorite time of year. And it seems to me that the seasonal celebration is growing, for as I learn that Lammas Day - the actual first day of the harvest - begins on August 1st, well, that gives me an extra month!
I know, I know...yes, I visit Greenfield Village as often as I can. It's like listening to your favorite musical group over and over because you enjoy their songs so much. It's the same for me when I visit Greenfield Village. There's just something about being surrounded - immersed - by all that history!
Plus, I have friends that visit there often, as well as some that work there, so, in a way, it's almost like going out for a visit. Greenfield Village used to be called "America's Hometown" - they should bring that moniker back, for that's what it is.
Until next time, see you in time.
By scrolling through my Passion for the Past blog, you will find many, many postings I wrote about and for autumn. But here are a few particular posts I think you might like:
To read more about the colonial fall and harvest, please click HERE
To read more about the Victorian fall and harvest, please click HERE
To read more about Lammas Day, please click HERE
To seek and find links to other postings I wrote about some of the individual houses at Greenfield Village, please click HERE
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