Historic Happenings Blog

Thursday, March 19 -- Mercer County 5:00 PM to 8:00 p.m. Sourland Mountain Spirits (30 Hopewell Rocky Hill Rd, Hopewell, New Jersey 08525): Join us for drinks at Sourland Mountain Spirits as we share the beautiful book by Jim Amon,  Seeing the Sourlands : A book of photos and essays.  Sourland Mountain Spirits have generously offered to host a book talk and a percentage of drink sales from the evening to be donated to Sourland Conservancy.

S aturday, March  14  - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Visit from the Horse Doctor, Dentist & Shoer When is a 3/4 ton workhorse a chicken? When the doctor and farrier, and dentist come...maybe. Keeping the horses in tip-top shape is very important to our farmers. This annual well visit allows a head to tail examination and is just one of the many ways we can be sure our horses are healthy and happy. Join them in the barns where they will be at work all day ensuring that horses, sheep, chickens, and farm cat Bushy are fit and ready for spring. Besides seeing some of the tools, techniques, and products that relate to horse care as it was practiced during the farm's circa 1900 time period, visitors will be able to meet a veterinarian, horse dentist, and farrier and even try their own hand at a bit of horse doctoring. With the veterinarian's help, visitors will be able to listen to a horse's heart through an antique stethoscope and watch the doctor give spring vaccines ...

S aturday, March  7  - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Work Horse Rides O n Saturday, join us at Howell Living History Farm for their Workhorse Rides program. Riders will not sit on saddles, nor will they ride bareback, but will sit atop fully harnessed, three-quarter-ton workhorses. The program is intended to give children a taste of early 20th-century farm life. So, in order to get a ride, children must first do their farm chores. The rides will be offered from 11:00 am - 3:00 pm on a first-come, first-served basis.  Riders must be between the ages of 5 and 12 years old, without exception. A children's craft program will also be offered in the visitor center for a small materials fee. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit  www.howellfarm.org .

Saturday, February 22 and 29 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Maple Sugaring Sugaring time arrives in late winter at Howell Farm and operations are in full swing. Visitors are invited to join the work and fun with sap collection, firewood cutting, syrup making, butter making, flour milling, and pancake eating. The trees are tapped beginning in early February. School groups, visitors and farm staff collect and boil down sap for several weeks. The sugar maple tree stores starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Freezing nights and thawing days make for heavy sap flow. The trees are tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap beginning in early February. The sap is then processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. Sap gathering will take place at 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm. Tree tapping demonstrations will be held at 11:00 am 1:00 pm and 3:...

Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum 5th Annual Gospel Brunch Saturday, February 22, 2020 11am-2pm Hopewell Presbyterian Church 80 W. Broad Street Hopewell, NJ 08525 This year’s Gospel Brunch features Eric Gambre’ll, an award-winning gospel recording artist who started directing and teaching a gospel choir at the tender age of 10 years old. Eric has recorded with renowned Gospel artist, Bobby Jones, and also toured for four years with John P. Kee and the New Life Community Choir.   From this experience in 2004, Eric was able to record his first album entitled “Live in the Capital City,” from the historic Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton, New Jersey.  While based in Trenton Eric also hosted local Trenton Radio Station, WIMG, for eight years, where he made history as the number one gospel morning show from 2000 to 2007 Our musical guests also include Laticia Lewis, Violinist, and Bertha Morgan, Soloist, from the Christ Baptist Church of Burlington, NJ.

Saturday, February 15 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Valentine's Day Rides, Music, and Silhouettes   The air may be chilly, but Howell Living Farm's wintery landscape is the perfect setting for a heartwarming Valentine's Day ride. Couples can take a romantic spin in a two-seater sleigh or carriage pulled by a team of light workhorses. Families and groups can snuggle into a bobsled or hay wagon pulled by a handsome team of drafts. No matter the hitch, the horses will be wearing their finest bells. The site is open from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Inside the farmhouse there will be live music by the Jugtown Mountain String Band, soup on the stove, and a children's craft program from 11:00 - 3:00 pm for a small materials fee. In the Charles Fish Barn, renowned artist Lauren Muney will be demonstrating the elegant process of cutting silhouettes by hand—and talking with visitors about the history of this traditional craft. Individual portraits can be purchased to benefit the far...

Saturday, February 8 - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Maple Tree Tapping Sugaring season is upon us. Join Howell Living History Farm's crew working the 150-tree sugar bush operation. Enjoy the work, fun, and rewards of helping tap maple trees, hang sap buckets, and cut firewood for the use in syrup making. The sugar maple is first choice for making maple syrup as there is more sugar in the sap compared to other species, meaning it will take less sap to produce a gallon of syrup. Those of you interested in making syrup at home can get pointers and hands-on experience during our tree tapping workshops. How to identify the sugar maple, and when to tap will be discussed. Taps and buckets needed for backyard sugaring operations will be available for sale in the farm's Visitors Center. Tree tapping experts will demonstrate the tools and equipment used in both traditional and modern production systems in the sugarhouse where sap is made into syrup. Visitors to the sugarhouse can sam...

Saturday, November 30   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Thanksgiving Hayrides/Wreath/Sleighbell Sale Sleighbells will ring when Howell Living Farm holds its annual Thanksgiving program featuring free horse-drawn hayrides, a wreath and sleigh bell sale, and a special children's craft program. Horse-drawn hayrides (or sleigh rides!) will be offered throughout the day. There is no charge for the rides, but everyone is encouraged to bring non-perishable foodstuff to donate to local area food banks as a thank you for the wagon ride. Monetary donations to the food bank are also welcome. Sleighbells will be sold throughout the day by The Friends of Howell Farm to benefit the Farm's restoration projects. The bells are made by the farm's harness maker, who makes the harnesses and sleigh bells worn by the Farm's workhorses. Brass and nickel-plated bells will be sold in straps of six, twelve, and twenty bells. Reproduction cast bells, bell door ringers, and bell ornaments will ...

Saturday, November 23   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Logging & Firewood Cutting Join farmers at Howell Living Farm who are using horses to skid saw logs out of the woods, and who are using oxen to haul firewood to the sap house in preparation for maple sugaring season. Visitors can help by cutting and chopping firewood, splitting locust logs into fence rails, and making barn pegs for use in our barn frame. At lunchtime, visitors can enjoy fare suitable for lumberjacks, including pancakes made with the farm's whole wheat flour...drenched in homemade maple syrup. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit  www.howellfarm.org .

Saturday, November 16   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Bacon, Sausage, and Scrapple Making If you work all week to bring home the bacon, sausage, and scrapple, but don't really know from whence they come, visit Howell Farm for their bacon, sausage and scrapple program. You will see these and other pork products made before your eyes. Farmers will demonstrate rendering lard, making pork products, and showing visitors the origins of different cuts of pork. Cracklin's and other delicacies will be free for the asking, and pork sandwiches will be available for sale. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit  www.howellfarm.org .

Saturday, November 9   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Cider Making A n apple a day may keep the doctor away, but pressing them, peeling them and "stomping" them can be healthy too...as you’ll find by visiting Howell Farm on Saturday. The techniques used on the Farm to make apple cider, applesauce and apple pie are healthfully reminiscent of those used a century ago when people - not motors - powered the cranks, handles and other appliances used to process food. From 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, visitors to this 130-acre working farm can sample the work, fun, and tastes of a circa-1900 apple harvest. Visitors of all ages will be invited to use the Farm's old fashioned presses, peeler-corers, and "stomper-strainers" to help the farmer's process apples. For the hungry, there will be apple pie and other apple treats. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 W...

Saturday, November 2   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Osage Orange Day Visit Howell Living History Farm for Osage Orange Day  from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit  www.howellfarm.org .

Saturday, October 26   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Corn Harvest A classic scene from America's past will be recreated at Howell Living History Farm when the fields of ripening corn are cut and shocked against a landscape of early fall colors. Visitors can join in the work and fun from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, helping farmers harvest corn in the fields, shell and grind corn, and taste cornbread. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit  www.howellfarm.org .

Saturday, October 19   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Basket & Broom Making; Wheat Weaving O n Saturday, the sights and sounds of trades that were once essential in rural communities like Pleasant Valley, New Jersey will come to life when a broom maker and basket weaver put their tools and skills to work at Howell Living Farm. The demonstrations can be seen in the farm’s wagon house and visitors are encouraged to meet and talk with the tradesmen and tradeswomen and use their finished products to help farmers sweep the barn, carry water for horses, and gather corn in baskets. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit  www.howellfarm.org .

Saturday, October 12   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Fall Hayrides O n Saturday, tours of Howell Living History Farm's fall tillage operations will be offered to the public. Wagons will leave from the farmyard continuously from 10:30 am until 3:30 pm, touring fields where farmers will be plowing or harrowing with horses and circa 1900 equipment. Tours last 20 minutes and are given free, on a first-come, first-serve basis. A wheelchair-accessible wagon is available. During the tours, visitors will get a chance to meet the farmers and horses who work the 130 acre “living history” farm. Guides will explain how fields are readied for planting winter crops such as wheat and rye. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more information. call 609-737-3299 or visit  www.howellfarm.org .

Saturday, October 5   - Hopewell Township, Mercer County Wheat Planting & Flour Milling O n Saturday between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm, visitors are invited to join farmers in the fields and on the threshing floor at Howell Living Farm as they plant and process wheat - work rewarded in the farmhouse kitchen with tastes of whole wheat bread and a take-home bag of freshly ground flour, complete with recipes. Special maps with corresponding field markers are used to guide visitors to areas where they can watch or help with planting operations, thresh wheat for animal feed and bedding, and grind wheat for baking. Visitors who have their maps stamped at each of “Help-the-Farmer” stations will take home their share of the harvest – a bag of freshly milled whole wheat flour produced with their help. Howell Living Farm represents typical farm life between 1890 and 1910. The farm is operated by the Mercer County Parks Commission. It is located at 70 Wooden's Lane, Lambertville, NJ. For more ...