Howell Living History Farm

      Tuesday, August 2, 2022: After becoming more educated about water conservation earlier in the day, after lunch, I learned more about farming, circa 1890 to 1910, at this Mercer County, New Jersey place: Howell Living History Farm, 70 Woodens Lane, Hopewell Township (609-737-3299). After I picked up a map of their 130-acre farm, I learned that parts of the farm went back to the 1700s. Through the years, different owners ran this farm until the last owner, Inez Howell, donated the farm in 1974 to Mercer County in the hope that people, and especially children, would experience farm life as she knew it. Therefore, the Mercer County Park Commission has been restoring this farm to the way it would have looked around the turn of the 20th century. As I walked through the property, I noticed fields, fences, and a garden, as well as an orchard, pond, and plenty of buildings! Those farm buildings included barns, a corn crib, and an equipment shed, as well as a wagon house, outhouse, farmhouse, etc. I also looked at some people, many of them wearing early 20th-century-styled clothing, doing farm chores. Meanwhile, someone working here informed me that much of the food produced on this farm would be donated to local food banks. I also saw some of the farm animals: chickens, sheep, hogs, horses, and so on. Anyway, throughout the year, Howell Living History Farm presented events for the whole family to either watch or take part in. They also played host to the Mercer County 4-H Fair. While visiting this farm, you could be as active or as passive as you wished.