SURRY, Va. — I recently visited the Farm and Forestry Museum at Chippokes State Park to learn more about the history of farming in Virginia.
I got a museum tour from Shannon Carlin, the Chief Ranger of Visitor Experience at Chippokes State Park.
"We see cultivation and harvesting and planting and the tilling and so many things in the museum. And each building tells a specific story to the agriculture in Virginia," says Carlin.
Farming has been a huge part of Virginia’s economy and culture for generations. And one of the key crops, even before the colonists arrived, was corn.
"It was really cultivated and developed with such love by the indigenous and the natives of this land. They really spent time with the soil and making it perfect," says Carlin.
In the mid-1800s, farmers developed a more efficient way of removing the corn kernels from the cob to make it ready to use or ship. Hand crank corn shellers, like the one pictured above, dramatically changed the harvesting process. And even though this machine is an antique, it still works today.
"We're also seeing a movement back these days where people are spending time in their backyard," says Carlin. "They're gardening, and they're producing, and they're going back to homesteading. That's what we hope to do here is get people connected to food, get people thinking about farming."
The Farm and Forestry Museum is at Chippokes State Park in Surry. The museum admission is free, but parking fees for the park ($7) still apply.
The Farm and Forestry Museum is open for self-guided tours daily from the first Friday in March through the first Monday in December from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
