Porches & Parlors
Daily Activities at Porches & Parlors
While there are no scheduled activities today, be sure to see our complete activities listing for upcoming offerings.
See the homes and lives of ordinary people who changed America, from humble early dwellings like the 1760s Daggett Farmhouse and 1800 McGuffey Birthplace, to the 1860s Susquehanna Plantation and the 1930s Mattox House.
Highlights
Mrs. Fisher's Southern Cooking
Savor the 1800s cooking of Abby Fisher, a former enslaved worker with a culinary gift. Enjoy some of the most delectable recipes from her landmark cookbook. Nothing says Southern hospitality like cracker-crust fried chicken and sweet potato pie.
Noah Webster Home
Artifact
House
Date Made
1823
Summary
Noah Webster and his wife Rebecca had this comfortable New Haven, Connecticut, home built in their later years to be near family and friends, as well as the library at nearby Yale College. While living in this house, Webster published his famous American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. His dictionary aimed to capture distinctively American words and spellings for the first time.
Creators
Place of Creation
Object ID
36.812.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Noah Webster Home
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Cotswold Cottage
Artifact
House
Date Made
circa 1619
Summary
Cotswold Cottage is from the Cotswold Hills in southwest England. The Fords were attracted to the distinctive character of Cotswold buildings, which are characterized by the yellow-brown stone, tall gables, steeply pitched roofs, and stone ornamentation around windows and doors. Several decorative additions were made to the house in England, before dismantling and re-erecting it in Greenfield Village.
Creators
Place of Creation
Keywords
United Kingdom, England, Gloucestershire, Chedworth
Object ID
29.434.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Cotswold Cottage
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Susquehanna Plantation
Artifact
House
Date Made
circa 1835
Summary
Henry Carroll owned this tidewater Maryland house in the decades before and after the Civil War. Its form was common in this warm, humid climate -- one room deep with porches to invite cooling breezes. In 1860, Carroll raised tobacco and wheat as cash crops on his 700-acre plantation. Sixty-five enslaved African Americans provided the skill and labor that supported the Carroll family's comfortable life.
Creators
Place of Creation
Object ID
42.209.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Susquehanna Plantation
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Daggett Farmhouse
Artifact
Farmhouse
Date Made
1754
Summary
Like other farm families living in northeastern Connecticut in the 1760s, the Daggetts made and grew many of the things they needed. Along with farming, Samuel Daggett was a house builder and furniture maker. The "saltbox" form of this house -- with short roof in front and long in back -- was a typical New England house type of this era.
Creators
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
77.11.0
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Mary Dana Wells.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Daggett Farmhouse
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Mattox Family Home
Artifact
House
Date Made
circa 1880
Summary
Amos and Grace Mattox -- descended from enslaved African Americans -- raised their two children in this rural Georgia farmhouse during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Amos farmed, cut hair, made shoes, and preached at the local church, while Grace sewed, canned, cooked, and helped needy neighbors. Although life was hard, the family proudly affirmed that there was "always enough."
Creators
Keywords
United States, Georgia, Bryan county
United States, Georgia, Richmond Hill
Object ID
43.154.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Mattox Family Home
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Ackley Covered Bridge
Artifact
Covered bridge
Date Made
1832
Summary
In addition to lending some charm, covering a bridge protects its wooden truss work from weather, extending the structure's service life. Joshua Ackley and Daniel Clouse built the Ackley Covered Bridge in 1832, across Wheeling Creek in southwestern Pennsylvania. Henry Ford acquired the bridge in 1937, when it was scheduled to be torn down, and moved it to Greenfield Village.
Place of Creation
Object ID
37.799.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Elizabeth L. Evans.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Ackley Covered Bridge
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Porches & Parlors
Check out some of the sights you'll enjoy first-hand when you journey through the Porches & Parlors district in Greenfield Village.
Hermitage Slave Quarters
Enslaved African Americans built and lived in these cabins on the Hermitage Plantation near Savannah, Georgia.
