Glimpses of the past

Something that's long been on my list of things to do is visit historical sites with live demonstrations. 

Before my kids left home, we made a trip to the George Ranch in Richmond, Texas. There was a lot to see, and we had a good time. 

Two of our favorite activities were the blacksmith demonstration and the chuck wagon lunch. (We went pre-covid.) The young man working in the blacksmith shop was not only talented, he was an engaging showman.

The tour of the Davis House, a Victorian era mansion, was particularly interesting to me. I learned a lot, including that fainting couches were a real thing. Growing up in Texas, I can't imagine wearing multiple layers and long sleeves in the summer, but ladies did!

The hogs at the 1830s Jones Stock Farm had the right idea. They wallow in the dirt to beat the heat.

The George Ranch Historical Park, which is located 30 minutes from Houston, opened in 1988 as an educational partnership between The George Foundation and the Fort Bend History Association. The Park features four historic home sites: the 1830s Jones Stock Farm, 1860s Ryon Prairie Home, 1890s Davis Victorian Mansion and 1930s George Ranch Home and Cattle Complex.

The Park accommodates pre-booked school and group tours Tuesday through Friday (including a day set aside for homeschoolers), and is open to the general public on Saturdays and other special weeks throughout the year, except during the month of August.

A place I wanted to visit with my kids but never did is the Texas Cotton Gin Museum in Burton, Texas. My family owns farmland near the King Ranch, and when my brother and I were kids, we used to watch the huge combines harvesting cotton and the bits of white fluff blow off the trucks as they'd haul it away. 

Whenever we went to see my paternal grandmother, my father would point out the cotton fields along the way and explain about the shriveled leaves on the plants after the defoliator had been applied. 

Once, he pulled the car over and picked a couple of cotton bolls. He let us feel of it, and he pulled the cotton apart so we could see the seeds. They are not easy to remove. I'd love to see how cotton was refined before the advent of modern machinery.

The Lyndon B. Johnson State Park, which lies between Austin and Fredericksburg, looks mighty tempting, too. And, best I can tell, the tours are free.

Have you visited any working farms or historical sites with live history demonstrations? Tell me, so I can add them to my bucket list!

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I put my Forging America series into the Kindle Unlimited library. 

If you subscribe to KU, you can now read them for free!