Making Candy

Ohio History

Heating the Syrup

Here is the sugar boiling away on the hearth. The temperature it needed to reach depended on the kind of candy being made. Some candy was made from white sugar, some from brown sugar, and some from molasses. Once the syrup reached the perfect temperature, it was poured into some kind of mold to cool--even just on a baking sheet to be cut into little cubes. Of course, you could taste lots of homemade candy samples available in the kitchen. But only after you passed a quiz about the years that different kinds of candy first came out!

Summer Kitchen

Ohio History

Making Candy

Well, we certainly came on the right day—the ladies are up to something in the summer kitchen! In the days before you could buy a hundred different kinds of candy in packages at the store, housewives made their own candy. And that’s what the re-enactors at Carriage Hill were doing the day we visited. You can see the little pot of syrup heating beside the fire in the background. There was more candy cooling on the table. And then there’s that soupy dishwater I was talking about….it would be hard to find me working out here, and not because of the “sink” either, but the heat—that summer kitchen was warm even on a fall day! Just imagine it in the middle of summer!

 

Farmhouse Kitchen

Ohio History

Cooking Stove

Time to head over to the farmhouse. I smell something cooking! In this little kitchen, over a wood burning stove, the housewife ladies actually cook lunch for all the farm workers! Next to the kitchen is an airy sitting/sewing room, a downstairs bedroom, and then a parlor, all with beautiful hardwood floors. And just a few paces from the kitchen door (back right) was the summer kitchen, where hot weather cooking could be done without heating up the house (no a/c, remember!).

Colorful Pantry

The pantry was also just off the kitchen. As you can see, it’s very well-stocked for winter! All the canning was done here on the farm, using produce from the garden. The kitchen sink was also here in the pantry—I can’t imagine washing dishes with no running water!

Garden

Ohio History

Carriage Hill Garden

The kitchen garden was bathed in the autumn afternoon sun. Even this late in the season, there were beans, tomatoes, peppers, and lovely herbs ready to pick in the garden. I envy this beautiful wooden slat fence. Not only does it keep out wild rabbits, deer, and loose livestock, but also the flock of chickens which free-ranges the grounds in the afternoon. Oh, I should tell you about the chickens—they’re always my favorite on the farm! It’s a flock of say 20 or 25 Barred Rocks, plus a rooster. They’re usually shut in the tall fence around their coop in the afternoon before the staff leaves; however, there’s a rebel group of 5 hens who escapes the round-up every day and gets extra time to roam the yard!

Woodshop

Ohio History

Carpentry Tools

Welcome to the woodshop! The carpenters make some amazing things in here—we’ve seen little stools, beautiful chairs, and one man even doing some intricate wood carvings. One year we came for the Lantern Tour at Christmas time, where we went around the farm by lantern light. In the woodshop, they were working by candlelight on a very unique Christmas decoration: Very thin slivers of wood were carved off a board; they naturally formed little curly-cues and then were linked together in a decorative chain. A very ingenious idea!

At Work in the Woodshop

 

Blacksmith

Ohio History

In the Blacksmith's Shop

Here is the farm blacksmith shop in action. As we watched, the blacksmith heated this spike of metal in the fire, then went over to shape it with his mallet, and then brought it back to heat some more. His helper in the background was pumping the bellows to keep the fire red-hot. We could feel the heat even from outside the building! Afterward, we got to look at some nails the blacksmith had made—somewhat rustic compared to today’s hardware!

Farm Spread

Ohio History

Carriage Hill Farm

Carriage Hill Farm boasts a number of roomy barns filled with live farm animals—sheep, draft horses, chickens, and a mule. They also have a wood shop, blacksmith shop, machinery shed, windmill, pond, and a summer kitchen with a springhouse. I love the many rail fences on the farm, like the one in the front of this picture.

Hayloft in Big Barn

The largest barn, painted a classic red, houses the horses and sheep in the lower level, with plenty of good-smelling hay in the loft above. Just look at those thick wood rafters! And I almost forgot, there is a new, very large visitor center on one end of the farm, displaying old tools, a wagon loaded for market, period clothes and artifacts, and other things. Be sure to stop by the Country Store downstairs for their ever-popular selection of candy!

Carriage Hill Farm

Ohio History

Carriage Hill Farmhouse

In 1830, a prosperous family of Virginia decided to move west. Daniel and Catherine Arnold sold their land and loaded their belongings and their five children for a long journey to Ohio. They traveled by ox-drawn wagon and settled on 158 acres near the Mad River, just north of present-day Dayton in western Ohio. Their successful farm stayed in the family til 1910, through four generations, and was eventually purchased by Five Rivers MetroParks of Dayton. And so today, visitors to the Carriage Hill Farm in New Carlisle can see farm life running just as it did 150 years ago. We enjoy this historic farm (less than an hour’s drive from us) every time we visit. Here is a view of the historic farmhouse through the trees.