Growing up in the 70s, I remember watching “Little House on the Prairie” and reading books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The amount of work it took to run their farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota seemed foreign to me. I couldn’t imagine how families could survive.
Visiting the Dudley Farm Historic State Park in Newberry rekindled some of those childhood memories and curiosities. Stepping back in time to the mid- to late 1800s, had me asking those same questions all over again. How could life be so simple, yet so difficult at the same time?
As I walked up to the farm and took a quick look around, I saw what I was expecting: a main farmhouse, a variety of other structures, pastures for the livestock and a garden.
The open gate invites visitors up the path to the two-story main farmhouse – the heart of the farm. The old house, complete with its original furnishings, provides a glimpse into how the family lived. The ground floor consists of four rooms – three bedrooms and a living room, all the same size, arranged around a central hallway. Looking inside the bedrooms, you can only imagine how 14 people slept in the house. No one got their own room. In fact, with several beds in each, four or maybe five children shared each room and at least one of the rooms served a dual purpose. A quilting frame hangs from the ceiling and can be raised when not in use.
When not in their bedrooms or working, a living room with old wooden chairs arranged in front of the fireplace set the stage for family time.
Off the back of the house is a separate kitchen with dining room – built apart from the main house to prevent damage from fire or smoke from cooking on a wood stove. It was a place for the family to gather for meals after a long day on the farm, a place to share their daily stories of farm life.
Other buildings on the farm include the outhouse, a dairy shed and canning house, a smoke house for preserving hog meat, and a general store, which was originally located outside the front gate. There is also a working cane syrup complex. Of course, life on the farm wouldn’t be complete without livestock. Cracker cattle and mules can be seen in the pasture; turkeys and chickens can be seen in their pens.
There are days when the farm is in full operation, when visitors get to see volunteers in period clothing demonstrating some of the chores and experiences of farm life. It was a quiet Saturday when we visited, so we were able to take a self-guided tour. And while it is nice to leisurely roam the farm on our own, I can only imagine it abuzz with activity.
If you want to check out this living history working farm for yourself, Dudley Farm is located about seven miles west of Interstate 75 on State Road 26 (Newberry Road), between Gainesville and Newberry. The park is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There is a $5.00 fee per car to visit the park.
Historical Note: The Dudley family moved to the area from South Carolina before the Civil War. The farm, as it is today, was developed in the 1880s. It was donated to the Florida Park Service in 1983 by Myrtle Dudley – the last of three generations to live and work here. Dudley Farm is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.