Stories To Tell
Pioneer Farms
Words by Jess Hagemann Photos by Eric Morales
There’s a 96-acre property in northeast Austin where time stands still. Seven days a week, costumed interpreters wearing prairie dresses and overalls go about the activities of daily living—plowing gardens, collecting eggs, and raising Longhorn cattle—but neither they, nor the restored village they reside, ever ages. That’s because at Pioneer Farms, home to an 1841 Tonkawa encampment, an 1868 German immigrant farm, and an 1873 Texian farm, among other sites, it’s perennially the nineteenth century. And they like it that way.
Today, Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farms Foundation owns the outdoor “living history museum,” but it’s been educating the public about Texas’s origins since the mid-1970s. Chairman and CEO Michael Ward describes how four years ago, Pioneer Farms spun off from its previous governing body (the Austin Heritage Society, now called Preservation Austin) into a freestanding museum with its own 501(c)3 status. The mission, however, remained the same: to showcase what life was actually like in 1800s Texas.
According to Ward, “Most people don’t have a clue what happened in Texas in the 1800s. When you were living out at the edge, on the frontier, you either figured out a way to grow stuff, eat, and live, or you were going to die. Now people show up out here, and they just fall in love with the place.”
More than 62,000 guests visit this tourist attraction-cum-time capsule every year, including school groups, conference attendees, and would-be artists game to try their hand at blacksmithing, bladesmithing, or woodworking—just a few of the many “lost arts” on offer at the farm.
The experience especially affects kids, Ward says. “There’s a disconnect now between the land and people who grow up in cities. [Some] think their eggs come from H-E-B, so they’re amazed when a chicken stands up and there’s an egg. Or they’ll look around and say, ‘Where’s the TV? Where’s the computer?’ It’s all these little lightbulb moments.”
Only a handful of the buildings at Pioneer Farms are original to the site. The rest have been donated over the years, with farm staff and volunteers raising money to relocate the structures. More recent acquisitions include an 1854 house initially built near Airport Boulevard and I-35, formerly owned by Joseph Wright (surveyor of UT’s first forty-acre campus), and an old LaGrange-area dancehall where Bob Wills once played, both of which were narrowly saved from demolition.
It’s important to preserve what we can, Ward emphasizes, because “old buildings all have stories to tell, from their design and their construction to the history that occurred there. If you just keep your mouth shut and watch and listen, they’ll speak.”
Year-Round Festivals
Over 200 volunteers help Pioneer Farms put on five major festivals every year. The 2019 Haunted Trails Festival, plus seasonal ghost tours, will run weekends in October, followed by a Christmas festival
in December.
Don’t Miss
A special program called Girls of Grit highlights women in Texas history and covers a number of “firsts,” from the first female pilot to the first female sheriff and lady governor!
Know Before You Go
While Pioneer Farms is open Monday-Sunday, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are reserved for group tours. Check the website for general admission details and volunteer opportunities, as well as a list of upcoming classes. Interested in backyard chickens, urban farming, or Dutch oven cooking? Many Pioneer Farms classes are accredited through Austin Community College, meaning you can earn college credit while having a ton of fun! This fall, visitors can learn directly from artist-in-residence Chris Farrell, national champion of Forged in Fire.
Contact:
(512) 837-1215
10621 Pioneer Farms Drive
pioneerfarms.org
