More Than Just Tractors...The Reid Plantion

The Reid Plantation is one of the greatest treasures of the Southeastern Old Thresher's Reunion!  It is a "living" plantation during the Reunion with daily demonstrations on the workings of a plantation.  All the buildings in the Reid Plantation were built before the Civil War and most are held together with wooden peg not metal nails!

The main house is two story with a front and back porch.  When the front and back door are open, there is a wonderful cool breeze that helps to cool the house in the summer heat.  The house is filled with antiques that are for sale during the Thresher's Reunion and this gives you get a since of how the house might have been set up.

This is the slave kitchen.  It was common for pre-Civil War homes to have detached kitchens.  This cut down the chance of the house to burn down if the kitchen caught of fire.  Remember they didn't have fire trucks back then!

During the Reunion a group of women cook breakfast, dinner,and supper on this open fireplace.  They cook everything from pinto beans to cakes using cast iron pots.

Just outside the kitchen is the well house.  This is a favorite for the kids because they love to roll up and down the water pail!

Yes, this is a cotton gin!  Notice the "tread mill" on the left side of the gin.  It is where the horses are put and "walk" to make the gin work.  This is the first tread mill!   The fluffy white stuff is the ginned cotton.  They use this to spin thread on the back porch of the house.

This is a Threshing Barn.  How is works is the wheat is cut and placed on the second floor of the barn.  Notice where the horse is being lead from.  That is a ramp that allows horses on the second floor.  Once on the second floor, the horses are walked around and around.  The floor has small cracks that allow the seed head to fall to the second floor.

Once here on the first floor, the wheat is collected and bagged.  The sheath stalks are gathered and baled for winter hay. 

You can purchase handmade brooms at the Plantation.  This couple (husband was on a break) come every year and make the best brooms!

The blacksmith shop is the one place my "crew" loves to stay and watch.  These men work here in the blacksmith shop during the Reunion.  One of the things that is fascinating to watch is when they repair or make wood spoke wheels!

The Reid Plantation is a step back in time!  It was originally built by Richmond Reid's family and slave labor in 1840 and completed in 1850 according to state archives.  The original plantation had 700 acres.  The plantation stayed in the family until it was dismantled and moved to the Denton Farm Park in 1988-1989. 

It is wonderful to have this living history for our children to remember and see how much life has changed the last 200 years here in America!