The Heritage Farmstead

When Winthrop Rockefeller arrived on Petit Jean Mountain in 1953, he found a close-knit agrarian society of small, self-sufficient farms. The largest of these was the Westphal farm. This farm had an orchard, a vineyard, a diverse vegetable garden, a blacksmith shop, and livestock that included beef cattle, milk cows, pigs, chickens and two mules.

In honor of this history and to cultivate the growing interest in heritage gardening and agriculture, we are using the Westphal farm as a model to develop educational demonstration gardens typical of a self-sufficient farm from 1933 (when Petit Jean State Park was built) to 1953 (when Rockefeller arrived). See what we grow in our Heritage Vegetable Garden.

Our Heritage Farmstead currently contains a Teaching Barn, a well house, a cellar house and a smoke house. Demonstration gardens, including an orchard and vineyard, also make up the farmstead. 

For more information about tours and educational activities involving the Heritage Farmstead, contact Joanna Seibert at (501) 727-6281. To learn more about the demonstration gardens, contact horticulturist Elizabeth Mattocks at (501) 727-6247.

 

 

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