A Surprising Dayton Metropark - Carriage Hill

[Robert Pence]

The 900-acre Carriage Hill Metropark, just north of I-70 on the east side of Ohio 201, is part of the Five Rivers Metropark System, and includes Carriage Hill Farm.

The farm is a working farm set in the 1880s, staffed with historical interpreters in period costume and comprised of several buildings dating from the 1830s to the 1870s equipped with the materials and tools of farming of the period. It's on rolling, partly forested land.

After a few hours walking around downtown on concrete, it was great to be away from the noise, walking in tall grass, feeling the breeze, and hearing birds.



This house is a log cabin that was sided over in 1876.










The wood shop is equipped with tools used to repair, restore and construct farm buildings.




A shed on the end of the wood shop houses the Empire portable steam engine used to power the threshing machine.














The blacksmith shop has all the tools needed to make hinges, latches, and parts/repairs for farm tools and implements.




By far the biggest Catalpa tree I've ever seen!
















Summer kitchen and wash house. In summer, cooking was done in this open, screened building instead of in the house's kitchen. A cast-iron cookstove in an adjoining room took the place of the fireplace for cooking.








Brick ovens were heated by building a wood fire inside. Wood was burned until the bricks got hot enough that the soot was burned off, and then the wood and ashes were raked out and the goods to be baked were put in. The things that took longest to bake, like bread, went in first, and things that baked quickly, like cookies, went in last. Each item was then taken out when it was done. It took practice to get it right.








Hay mower


Hay rake


Water wagon to supply water to a steam engine. In a day's threshing, a steam engine can consume a thousand gallons of water or more, and it was often the job of some of the boys to take the wagon to a pond, creek or well and fill it with water, and then transfer the water to holding tanks on or near the steam engine.


Percheron draft horses




For some jobs, mules are better than horses

[Boris]

Amazing photos. The shots from inside the buildings are so clear it almost seems like you can reach in a touch the objects.

Great stuff.

[olga]

Thanks for the tour! Very nice. The interiors were especially interesting to see. I love that brick house! Strange way to put the drainpipes though.

Brick ovens were heated by building a wood fire inside. Wood was burned until the bricks got hot enough that the soot was burned off, and then the wood and ashes were raked out and the goods to be baked were put in. The things that took longest to bake, like bread, went in first, and things that baked quickly, like cookies, went in last. Each item was then taken out when it was done. It took practice to get it right.

Some firends of mine have a cottage on the countryside with an old oven that is used at the same way as this one. They are trying to learn how to bake in it, but I've understood it isn't easy. Their goal is to make stone baked pizza.

[Robert Pence]

Originally Posted by olga

... Strange way to put the drainpipes though ...

It's typical of American construction of that era; on most homes, even in cities, gutters and downspouts (drainpipes) were configured to collect rainwater in an underground cistern for use in laundry and bathing. It was soft water (mineral-free), and lathered well with soap, felt good, and yielded cleaner, softer laundry than well water.

In late winter or early spring, before the rains started, responsible homeowners drained their cisterns and washed them down to get rid of the chimney-soot and sediment that accumulated over the previous year.

Water from a well or spring, or in cities, a municipal water system, was used for drinking and cooking.

[olga]

^ I see! Thanks for the explanation.