I should probably begin by explaining that my family has some odd hobbies. One of these, and the one that led me to the place I'm about to discuss is my dad's love of showing chickens. By showing, I mean entering them into a competition of sorts where they are judged based on the superiority in which they match breed standards. Basically in simpler terms, it is like a dog show but for chickens. This hobby which has grown and thrived, began years ago, and me as a young girl began attending one show in particular with my father at Genesee Country Village in New York.
I had always shown an interest in the unordinary, and this place was like traveling back in time, something extremely unordinary for a fourth grader who happened to be reading a lot about the 1800s and 1700s during this time. So as I stepped outside the bounds of the chicken show, I was mesmerized by the old time costumes of people walking around what appeared to be a fully functioning town set hundreds of years before I was born. Now of course I knew this was all a reenactment and living museum, but I had a strong imagination and I used to pretend I was transported, Magic Treehouse style, back in time. As I would roam around I'd imagine myself as being apart of the community, and though my imagination has withered slightly overtime I still hold this place as one of my favorites, even ten years later.
Basically, Genesee Village is a living museum in which historic homes have been transported and designed in a village setting. There are expensive mansions, simple log cabins, two different schools, old churches, and multiple other types of businesses that make up an old time town. Each place is occupied by reenactors who represent the people who would live in the homes or businesses on site. Often, the people have a skill they utilize, a real potter portrays the pottery business spinning clay on a wheel as he talks, a real brewer makes beer from hops they grow on site, and women sit in circles and craft extravagant quilts and bake old fashioned foods. On occasion they even have a massive helium balloon used during the American Civil War and allow people to go up in it. Old time baseball games occurred every week, and oxen pulling carts walk the same dirt paths you do as you travel through town.
This museum, with its intricate details and abundance of artifacts takes a step back in time, a humbling experience for adults and children who visit. It is places like these that document history in a way that is tangible that have a lasting impact on those who visit. I suggest if you are ever in the area, make the trip to Mumford, New York and stop at Genesee Country Village, so you don't let our past pass you by.
