Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm

Go back in time to the 1890s with demonstrations at Humpback Rocks Mountain Farm

Peter Hamel

Quick Facts

Location:

Parkway Milepost 5.8

Significance:

Historic log cabin depicting farm life in late 19th century Appalachia.

Amenities

11 listed

Benches/Seating, First Aid Kit Available, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Parking - Auto, Restroom - Seasonal, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Toilet - Flush, Trailhead, Trash/Litter Receptacles, Water - Drinking/Potable

Old farms, like this one, serve to bridge the gap between our lives today and the lives of subsistence mountain families long ago. This farm has been preserved as it may have looked during the 1890s. Farm highlights include a demonstration garden, log home, chicken house, root cellar, barn, hog pen, spring house, and rail fencing surrounded by forest. This farm existed to feed the family throughout the year and provide for all of their needs. Food was grown in the fields, stored in the outbuildings, prepared and eaten in the cabin. Surplus crops could be bartered, or sold, for cash money in order to obtain things that could not be grown or gathered around the farm. 

On farms like this one, you can visit the places where a generation learned some tough lessons in life: preservation, restraint, conservation, sustainability, the value of working smart, living with nature and many, many others. It may seem difficult to relate to a world that on the surface appears so vastly different than our own, considering the families lived without electricity, indoor plumbing, motorized vehicles, interstate highway systems, cell phones, or the internet. If you scratch the surface a bit however, you will find that we have many similarities with these families. They ate much of the same foods that we do today. They wanted similar things for their children: to grow up in a healthy, safe environment learning how to raise their own families in the world. They liked to shop for new innovations and things to improve their lives, while living frugally. In short, they too laughed, cried, celebrated, debated, and lived life to the fullest they could just like we do today.

Seasonally, in the summer and fall, rangers and volunteers can be found at the farm site to answer questions and, ocassionally, demonstrating 19th century Appalachian life. 

Check the conditions of the area before you visit.