- Saturdays from 10:00am-4:00pm (January 30th- December 4th)
- Gift shop open Tuesday-Thursday from 11:00am-4:00pm
- Open April 6th-December 2nd from 1:00pm-4:00pm
- Closed Mercer County holidays
- Saturday events offered throughout the year from 10:00am-4:00pm
- Self-guided tours offered
- Additional programs can be found on the website; reservations may be required
- Weekday trips for schools and families offered throughout the year
- ADA accessible
- Transportation available upon request
- Parking
- Visitor Center
- Restrooms
- Gift shop
- Free admission
- Fee for corn maze and certain group programs
Howell Living History Farm
70 Woodens Lane, Lambertville, NJ 08530
(609) 737-3299
Howell Living History Farm has served as a working farm for over 285 years. During its 45 years as a property of Mercer County, the farm has grown from a 126-acre tract of donated farmland to a 267-acre historical park where the agriculture and lifestyle of earlier times is shared with school children and annual visitors alike. As a living history farm, it continues to operate on a full, working scale by raising crops and livestock, and using the house and barns as people did in earlier times. Horse-powered field and transportation equipment is used to farm 126 acres filled with corn, oats, wheat, and hay.
The Mercer County Park Commission preserved and restored the farm that was listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 1978. Due to public appreciation and state and national recognition of its award-winning programs, the Pleasant Valley National Rural Historic District was established in 1991 and encompasses Howell Living History Farm. Key properties within the district were later acquired by Mercer County and are maintained and operated by Howell Farm as The Pleasant Valley Historical Park. Visitors can enjoy the park by touring its one-room schoolhouse, late Revolutionary War period farmhouse, cemetery, and archaeological sites of a blacksmith shop, gristmill and two sawmills. Visitors can learn about the domestic life of women and children during the period of interpretation. Each year, more than 65,000 visitors also learn about the seeds, heritage breeds, and farming methods the farm preserves and the ways they are still used to improve agriculture today.
Howell Farm’s calendar reflects the cycles of a fully functioning, working farm in Pleasant Valley during the years 1890-1910. Programs enable visitors to see real farming operations up close, speak with farmers and interpreters, and in many instances lend a hand.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
- Take a self-guided tour of the farm, including the sheep barn, chicken house, main barn, hog pasture, apple orchard, farmhouse, and icehouse
- Participate in seasonal activities like making maple syrup, picking corn, and baking cornbread
- Ride into a field in a horse drawn wagon
- Help care for the animals, sweep the barn, make soap, butter, and ice cream
Journey through Jersey strives to have the most up-to-date information, but always check with the site itself before planning a visit.
