Juneteenth Program In Mercer Co. To Feature Tours Of Historical Farmhouse

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — This Juneteenth, Mercer County is organizing a special program that will take participants on a historic journey.

On Saturday visitors to Howell Living History Farm can join historical interpreters on a free wagon ride and tour of the 1790 farmhouse, where Revolutionary War-era New Jerseyans lived and farmed. This land now makes up Mercer County’s Pleasant Valley National Rural Historic District.

The tours begin at 10:30 a.m. in the barnyard. Visitors will board a wagon to travel down the driveway, across Moore’s Creek and through the woods before disembarking at the Captain Henry Phillips House.

Once there, they will be met by historical interpreters Ivey Avery of Trenton and Pete Curtis of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, for a unique discussion on the history of the house and the people who lived in it before and after the 1804 passage of New Jersey’s Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery.

Avery and Curtis are historical interpreters who have presented the lives of Black Americans throughout history. Howell Farm historian Larry Kidder will also be present to guide visitors through the house and tell the story of Nance, an enslaved woman who lived there with her children.

Light refreshments will be served following the tour. Wagon tours depart at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.. The tour is limited to 20 participants per session. Up to 10 spaces per tour can be reserved online via the Mercer County Park

Guided tours of the 1900 Howell Farm farmhouse will also be offered throughout the day, beginning at 11 a.m., 12 noon, and 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The farm will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours of both farmhouses, as well as admission to the farm, are free.

Howell Farm is owned and operated by Mercer County. It is located at 70 Woodens Lane, Hopewell Township.

For more information, visit www.howellfarm.org or call the farm office at 609-737-3299.