Riverview Open House in Naperville Mixes Family Fun and History

If you are looking for some old-fashioned family fun, steeped in farm history and surrounded by nature, plan to stop by the Forest Preserve District of Will County's “Riverview Farmstead Open House” on Saturday, Oct. 2.

The event takes place from noon to 4 p.m. at Riverview Farmstead Preserve, which is located on Book Road, south of Hassert Boulevard/111th Street, in Naperville. The site was preserve by the Forest Preserve District to show what farm life was like in the county in the 1800s.

Sara Russell, a Forest Preserve interpretive naturalist, said anyone who stops by the open house can tour the inside of the buildings (which are normally closed), have fun with farm-related family activities and walk around the preserve, which includes a section of the DuPage River Trail and is adjacent to the DuPage River.

“It’s so close to town, but it feels like a wonderful oasis and a part of nature,” she said. “And it’s really cool to get a chance to go into the Riverview Farmstead buildings. They’re so well constructed – they’re incredible.”

A petting zoo and a sandbox filled with corn kernels and toys will entertain the kids. And everyone can take part in the cornhusk doll craft activity. “People can make the dolls and take them home,” Russell said. “It’s a fun activity for the whole family.”

Anyone who wants to know what farm life was really like in the 1800s can try their hand at butter churning, egg collecting, water hauling and washing clothes with a washboard. Games include egg races, sack races, ring toss and Jacob’s ladder.

Riverview buildings

Three unique buildings built by the Clow family have been preserved on the 387-acre site. Staff will be stationed in each building to talk about its history and answer questions.

Constructed around 1850, the Settlement House was the first dwelling built on the land. Scottish immigrant Thomas Clow and his wife, Margaret, lived in the home while they built a larger limestone house nearby. The Settlement House was converted from residential to animal
husbandry use after the Limestone House was finished.

The Limestone House was constructed using limestone from the region and its walls are 18-inches thick. A one-story section of the home was built in 1863 and a two-story addition was completed in 1868.

Finally, the barn was built in the 1890s. At the time, it was one of the largest barns in Wheatland Township. The structure is 117-feet long, 42-feet wide and 44-feet tall.

“The barn was put together without nails,” Russell said. “They used a variety of mortises and tenon joints to create support posts and trunnels made of wood to pin the joints together.”

Coming full circle

Implements from the 1800s will be on display during the open house including:

• An 1885 Eureka mower, which was used to harvest hay with a triangular blade.
• An 1896 steel safety corn cutter, which has sharp knives at the bottom used to harvest corn.
• An 1890 hay cutter with forks at the back that fluff the hay and stopped mulch from forming.
• Clipper cleaners that use vibrations and a blower to clean debris from harvested seeds.
• A fanning mill, with decorative vines painted on it, that was used to dust chaff off seeds.

“They are all a part of the Riverview Farmstead story,” Russell said. “Preserving the site’s history helps us understand who and what we were in the past and it allows us to have a better understanding of who we are today and where we want to go.”

Russell also noted that the land that makes up Riverview Farmstead has come full circle.

“The site was at one time a prairie where Potawatomi and other Native peoples lived and hunted,” she said. “Then, when settlers like the Clows came in later they cleared the prairie plants – massive roots and all – to make way for agricultural crops like corn and wheat. I think it’s interesting that we have come full circle, from prairie to farm back to prairie again.”

To learn more about the history of the site and how it was settled and built up from subsistence farming to a commercial operation, visit “Preserving the Past.” For more information on the Forest Preserve District of Will County, visit ReconnectWithNature.org.

WATCH THIS EPISODE OF "THE BUZZ," WHICH FEATURED A SEGMENT ON RIVERVIEW FARMSTEAD: