ANOTHER TIME: This photo is of a portable sawmill belonging to George Geyer, set up at the Charles Hunter Farm in Pleasant Valley circa 1904. Mercer County’s recent acquisition of a six-acre property will bring stories of the area’s sawmills back to life for visitors. (Photo courtesy of Howell Living History Farm)
By Anne Levin
Last month, Mercer County Executive Dan Benson announced that Howell Living History Farm, the Hopewell Township park that recreates aspects of life on a working, turn-of-the-century farm, is getting bigger.
The purchase of a six-acre property across Valley Road from the farm means that learning about the workings of a historical sawmill will be added to the horse-plowing, maple-sugaring, cider-pressing, harvesting, and many other activities that thousands of local schoolchildren and other visitors have gotten to experience for the past four decades.
Howell Farm is part of the Pleasant Valley National Rural Historic District, listed on the National and New Jersey Registers of Historic Places as an outstanding example of an agricultural landscape from the 18th and 19th centuries. It has grown from a 126-acre tract of donated farmland to a 267-acre historical park. A one-room schoolhouse, late Revolutionary War period farmhouse, cemetery, and the archaeological sites of a blacksmith shop, gristmill, and two sawmills give visitors a taste of rural life over a century ago.
The newly acquired parcel contains a house and sheep barn that were built by a local farmer, John Smith, prior to the Revolutionary War. According to a press release, Smith was a descendant of a family that had been established north of Trenton since the late 17th century. The original property included a sawmill that provided lumber, timber frame, and fencing materials for the surrounding valley.
“We know it would be almost impossible to recreate the sawmill,” said Pete Watson, Howell Farm’s director. “But what we can do is tell its story, and then use representative living history to let people experience it.”
The next step is a historic structures report that investigates the history of the house and the barn. “Then we can begin to plan what’s needed in order to present it to the public in the most meaningful way, and preserve it,” said Watson.
The representation of a sawmill will not only expand Howell Farm’s public education activities, but will also produce sustainably harvested wood materials for use across Mercer County’s park system.
“Growing tourism opportunities is a top priority for Mercer County, and is a big reason why we launched Mercer County’s first-ever office of tourism,” said Benson. “For over 40 years, Howell Living Farm has provided an incredible education and recreation opportunity for guests from all over the state. Expanding Howell Farm’s footprint will only enhance this experience.”
As it has been for 285 years, Howell Farm is a working farm — with horse-powered field and transportation operations that help grow corn, oats, wheat, and hay, the old-fashioned way. The farm also produces milk, eggs, and wool. Watson, who came to the area in 1983 as a historic farmer, is enthusiastic about the latest expansion.
“Mercer County will do the same thing it has done with every one of these acquisitions, and that is due diligence,” he said. “That means finding more about the history of the property and how it can be protected and shared. The county has done that by working with grant agencies in the state, and working with the community to get stories that were still with family members about their earlier members. It has resulted in a really wonderful cultural treasure for people now and in the future.”