Play Some Victorian Games in a Trip to Burlington County

Editor's Note: This week's day trip suggests some Victorian fun, in Burlington County. Eastampton Township and it's historic Smithville Mansion is the backdrop to your chance to show your badminton and croquet skills. Did you know they were Victorian pastimes? Plenty of learnin' and playin' in this day trip when you head west to Eastampton.

Burlington County Freeholders will kick off the annual tour season of the Historic Smithville Mansion by joining in a carefree afternoon of Victorian Games in the park on Sunday, May 1, from noon to 4 p.m., rain or shine. 

Organized by the Burlington County Division of Parks in collaboration with the non-profit Friends of the Mansion, this new event will officially launch the 2011 tour season of the stately manor that is the centerpiece of Historic Smithville Park in Eastampton.

Built in 1840, the mansion is the former home of Hezekiah B. Smith, an inventor, entrepreneur and politician who founded the company town of Smithvillle in the late 1800s.

During the tour season kick-off event, visitors will be invited to help recreate some of the outdoor enthusiasm of the Victorian era by playing a variety of games that Hezekiah, his wife Agnes Gilkerson Smith, friends and employees may have enjoyed when the Village of Smithville was an international center for the production of woodworking machinery and the Star Bicycle.  

Activities will include hopscotch, quoits, marbles, kick the can, hoops and sticks, jump rope, leap frog, badminton, tug of war, checkers and, of course, croquet. Played as both a recreational pastime and competitive sport, croquet involves hitting balls through hoops embedded in a grass playing court and was popular during the Victorian era when Smith’s model industrial town thrived.

There is no cost to participate in the Victorian games, but anyone interested in playing croquet should call the Division of Parks at 609-265-5858 to register for a time slot.

Visitors are also invited to tour the stately mansion that has been decorated with period furniture every Wednesday and Sunday at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. beginning May 4 through October.

Offered by the Friends of the Mansion at Smithville, the nonprofit group that raises funds to help restore and maintain the property, the tours cost $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for students.

For more information, call 609-261-3295.

Tea and Tours of the mansion also will be available on the last Wednesday of each month from noon to 2 p.m., May through October. The cost is $20 per person and advance registration is required by calling 856-767-3159.