Last month, I met my daughter in Brenham, TX for a girls getaway weekend. We rented a cute little one-room house (over 200 years old!) in nearby Chappell Hill. We watched movies and relaxed a lot (Bethany just started a PhD program at Texas A&M, so relaxation was high on her to-do list), but we also spent Saturday afternoon exploring.
One of the places we visited was Washington on the Brazos, an historic park just a few miles down the road. We saw the site where Texas declared its independence from Mexico and became its own nation. Super cool! If you are interested in seeing pictures and learning more, I blogged about it here.
In the same park, we found Barrington Farm. Here, they have the historic home of Dr. Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas. The home was a dogtrot style house with an open breezeway down the center to help keep it cool with two rooms on each side. On the left were two bedrooms, and on the right were a parlor and dining room. The kitchen was a separate building behind the house. This was a prosperous family with four children, yet the house was tiny compared to most houses today.
My favorite part of the experience, however, was meeting all the living history reenactors who were there. We were fortunate enough to visit on a weekend when they had artisans demonstrating crafts from the 1850s. My favorite, of course, was the blacksmith. The fellow I talked to wasn’t exactly Levi (my hero in To Win Her Heart), but he knew his business and had a shy, competent manner that I found quite appealing. We also got to meet a chandler (candle maker) who was named . . . Chandler! Too fun. They had a potter and a kiln, a brick maker and tanner, and someone making tin soldiers. Closer to the house was the separate kitchen building, the laundry, and smokehouse. And over in the orchard was a surveyor who got quite excited about trigonometry, which made my math nerd daughter super happy.
Have you ever visited a living history museum or park?
Which of the artisans pictured above would you most like to talk to?
Bonus!
The first book in my Hanger’s Horsemen series, At Love’s Command is on sale today through December 6 for only $1.99. Hooray. Treat yourself to an early stocking stuffer or surprise a friend with an e-book gift!
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I think I have been to a living history park but the memory is vague because I was very young. I remember the blacksmith. I’d be really interested in the chandler and the tin soldier maker. Those sound the most interesting to me. I love your photos!
Thanks, Anna. The chandler was interesting, watching him dip those wicks off and on all day long. He had some candles on display that he had made. Such a time-consuming process to do by hand.
We used to take our kids to a living history museum in Greenville, SC, where they’d have demonstrations like that periodically. There’s one not far from us here in TN that I would love to take my grandson to.
One of my long-time blog friends loves all kinds of textile crafts and participates in fairs like this by spinning wool on a spinning wheel. She loves to talk about it with the people who come by.
How fun to know someone who is actively keeping the past alive! I have so much appreciation for people who do that.
I am so glad you had a chance to visit the museum and the farm. Those two are my favorite places, also the Sam Houston museum in Huntsville, and the Fanthorp Inn not far from Washington-on-the-Brazos. I visit every museum, living history or otherwise, and re-enactment I can. I believe, I have talked to every re-enactor at the Barrington farm 🙂. They are a fun bunch.
They really were great to talk to, Kati. You’re so right. And they really knew what they were about, too. So fun!
I visited Nazareth village in May 2018. It was an amazing experience.
I bet that was wonderful, Caryl!
My sister has property in Burton (very near Brenham) and we were just there over Thanksgiving! I’ve been to Washington on the Brazos. Loved it! We visited a few years ago and the re-enactors let our kids play with toys from the era.:)
How fun, Becky! It’s such a neat place. A great place to take kids.
One of the reasons I love historical fiction is because I learn so much. I recently finished reading Serving Up Love and appreciate you posting about the Harvey Girls to inspire my interest. Your research is amazing! This is such an interesting post!
I’m a native Virginian – a state with loads of history – and currently live one hour from Colonial Williamsburg. For years we took our 5th grade students to Williamsburg where they experienced Colonial life – the blacksmith, the silver maker, the printer, the apothecary, the basket maker, and so many others, as well as a look at everyday life, the government, the prison (where Blackbeard was once held), the Governor’s Palace, and a favorite place for pictures – the stocks and pillory.
Thanks for writing historical fiction!
I would love to visit Williamsburg someday, Betty. It sounds wonderful! Reading historical fiction as a young girl is what got me interested in history. I didn’t particularly care about the wars and politics taught in history class in school, but oh did I love getting swept away in an historical story. Learning that way was so much more fun!
That sounds like such a great trip! I love the little house you rented! It looks so cute and cozy. I’d like to have a weekend trip like that sometime. So fun!
I love staying in historic homes or hotels when they aren’t too expensive, and this little place was perfect for the two of us. We loved it!
It looks like you had a fun trip. The house you rented is really cute. I recently finished reading “At Loves Command”. I loved it! I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks, Erika. 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed Matt and Josie’s story. The next book with be a double feature with both Jonah and Mark finding love. I can’t wait to share it with you!
“Love’s Command” awaiting on my Kindle! Historical sites? Too many! I love Colonial Williamsburg, and Lincoln’s Neighborhood in Springfield is a given for all Illinoisans. They have renovated the homes on his street and added wood sidewalks, etc., so you can get an idea of what it was like in the 1850s. The annual WW2 Days at Midway Village in Rockford, IL, are always a great favorite. Nearly 1,000 reenactors to answer your questions about all things WW2!I recall attending a French-Canadian settlers’ dinner in Old Quebec way back when and that was a blast. Yep. Super history nut here!
So fun! I loved reading about these historic places and seeing the pictures of the craftsmen and women.
I highly recommend visiting Greenfield Village in Detroit, MI or if you’re looking for a smaller sized experience visit Sauder Village in Archbold, OH.
Greenfield Village is huge/spread out and has model-T cars you can ride in, a full sized train that stops at different areas in the village, lots of different historic artisans and buildings. I took my fourth graders here for field trips and they loved it, too! They have actors who play different people from history (Thomas Edison, the Wright Bros, etc) wandering around at times, too. The Henry Ford museum is next door so you could spend two days experiencing everything.
Sauder Village takes you back in time from the Native Americans, trappers, traders, early settlers who helped settle the NW Ohio area and up through the decades to their “modern” downtown of the 1920s. You can go for a train ride, visit the barbershop, watch the potter, glassmaker, basket weaver, tin smith, cooper, blacksmith, or chat with one of their many volunteers who speak about the history of their particular building/area of the village (all while in period attire). You can visit the animals at the farm, shop at the general store, and so much more. They have special events throughout the season like the annual quilt show, antique car show, harvest days, etc.
It’s neat to learn about history through these living history experiences!