Claude Moore Colonial Farm, originally Turkey Run Farm, was a U.S. park in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

re-creating and re-enacting life on a

tenant farm A tenant farmer is a farmer or farmworker who resides and works on land owned by a landlord, while tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and manage ...

circa 1771. The park closed permanently on December 21, 2018. The National Park Service was subsequently said to be in the process of planning the future of the park and its facilities The Friends of Claude Moore Colonial Farm at Turkey Run Inc., a privately funded foundation, paid for all activities on the Farm, while the land it occupied was owned by the National Park Service. It received only certain maintenance services from the Park Service. The Farm was located in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., next to the

George Bush Center for Intelligence The George Bush Center for Intelligence is the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), located in the unincorporated community of Langley in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, near Washington, D.C. The headquarters is a c ...

and the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center. The mission of Claude Moore Colonial Farm was to recreate the life of tenant farmers circa 1771. The majority of Virginians of that time period were tenant farmers who grew

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

to pay their rent while growing food to eat. By contrast,

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, wh ...

mainly demonstrates the life of merchants, landowners, and other members of colonial Virginia's upper crust.

History

Originally named Turkey Run Farm when it opened in July 1973 as a National Park Service operation, the Claude Moore Colonial Farm was renamed in 1981 for local land developer Dr. Claude Moore, whose large bequest at the time of his death allowed it to establish itself as the only autonomous site in the National Park system. It took no NPS funding, and operated off of the dividends of its endowment, volunteer-run fundraising efforts, and donations from the public. The Farm operation expanded its facilities over the years. The GateHouse Giftshop replaced the admission fee drop box

honor system An honor system, trust system or honesty system is a way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty. The honor system is also a system granting freedom from customary surveillance (as to students or prisoners) with ...

, and an event deck and the Bounty Garden were added at the front parking lot. After the terrorist attacks of

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, a new access road was cut through the upper pasture so that access to the farm office no longer passed through the security gate of the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

headquarters, near the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

grounds. In 2011, "Chez Puce," formerly the site of the Farm's alternating book and "garage" sales, became a full-fledged used-book store, open Wednesday through Saturday.

Park operations

The Farm was run by a small paid professional staff, supplemented by many volunteers both behind the scenes and in costume. The interpretive staff, including pre-teens and teenagers who portrayed the farm children, demonstrated mid-eighteenth-century farm life, including field work, crafts, cooking, and other activities. Staff (including volunteers) used first-person portrayals to demonstrate

living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

and help visitors feel as if they'd stepped back in time. The Farm's heirloom crops and heritage-breed livestock were carefully researched to provide as accurate a re-creation as possible. The Farm cooperated with

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

, in providing work-release parolees with court-required employment, which, on a working farm, meant labor.

Recurring events

Musical entertainment at the Market Fair at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm

The highlight of the Farm's year was the Market Fair, held the third full weekends of May, July, and October. The Fair was enhanced by the participation of a cadre of long-time volunteers, including a blacksmith, a cabinet maker, a milliner, an herb and flower seller, a potter, and a chair bodger; and it featured a toy store, a scriptorium, a puppet theatre, chicken roasting, a tavern, and more. Many of the Market Fair participants were members of

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and other re-enactor groups, and often appeared at other colonial-history events as well. Other recurring events included the annual gathering and threshing of wheat and the annual preparation of the tobacco crop. A colonial

Wassail Wassail (, ) is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Christmastide and Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to ...

, including the blessing of the orchard, was the final event of the season, in mid-December.

Closure

As of December 21, 2018, the Farm was no longer open to visitors.

References

{{authority control Colony of Virginia Farm museums in Virginia Living museums in Virginia McLean, Virginia Museums in Fairfax County, Virginia Open-air museums in Virginia Parks in Fairfax County, Virginia Landmarks in Virginia National Park Service areas in Virginia Protected areas established in 1973 1973 establishments in Virginia

History

Park operations

Recurring events

Closure

See also

References