Autumn at Hale Farm & Village

One of Northeast Ohio's historical treasures
is Hale Farm & Village in Bath, Ohio. A
living history museum set in the 19th
Century, there are several areas of the
property used a little differently. Nestled
in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (right,
click to enlarge), the setting can really
transport you back into time.

On a crisp autumn day a few years ago I
had a meeting at Hale Farm and after it
was over tried out a new camera on the
property. The fall foliage served as
a great backdrop.


The first part of Hale Farm that you
generally visit when leaving the Visitor
Center is the Mill and Carriage House.
The Mill (left, click to enlarge) is
operational and at times can be
heard steaming away for quite
a ways. It is certainly loud, but a
wonderful feel for how it was "back
then" in time.






A path from the Carriage House and Mill lead to a restored log cabin that was transported from Goodyear property by their blimp hangar in Suffield, Ohio (about 30 minutes east of the village).

Admittedly, the picture shown here (right, click to enlarge) was tweaked a bit using Photoshop to enhance the reds, but the picture of the leaves blanketing the ground as you see the cabin from the woods (below, click to enlarge) is as it was captured by the camera (hard to say "on film" anymore!).



The village part is a recreated village
from the mid 1800s, with many of the
structures being relocated from
Northeast Ohio and originally in
the same time-frame.

Prior to reaching the village is the
Jonathan Hale house, built on this
spot in the early 1800s. The property
stayed in the family for a long
period of time before being turned
into a living history village.

The village, fictionally called Wheatfield, used to be centered in 1848 with the inhabitants of the structures playing first-person roles. About 10 years ago or so on a family visit I tried to stump the occupant of a house looking to rent a room to a boarder whether he preferred a German, an Irishman or a free Black. His answer was right on the money for the time. Unknowingly I had tried to stump the person who went on to be the director of the village from the early 2000's through 2008.

The Meeting House (right, click to enlarge) is the center of this New England-style village. It serves many purposes and I especially like some of the evening programs (such as the Fugitive's Path program portraying the Underground Railroad) where the acting and the atmosphere lend an air of reality to the history.

Other parts of Hale Farm show authentic 19th Century farming and crafts/artisans using traditional methods.

- J