An Ordinary Farmstead
The Hutmacher Farm
The farm site consists of five buildings: The farmhouse, garage/summer kitchen, granary, chicken coop and barn.
To the east are the remains of Valentine Hutmacher’s original homestead and the spring well where the families obtained water.
To the west is a ridge that contains coal used for heating and cooking.
To visitors, the buildings at the Hutmacher site look strange. The buildings are unique; unlike what one would expect to see on today’s farms.
But in the early 1900s homestead farms looked much like the Hutmacher Farmstead.
Ukrainian and German – Russian immigrants used stones, clay and trees from the immediate vicinity to build their homes.
When other traditional family farms began disappearing in the 1930s and ‘40s, Frank Hutmacher continued to live on the farm and maintained the original stone buildings. By the 1970s it was one of the few operating pioneer farms that retained its original architecture.
The buildings are not re-creations, but an actual homesteader era farm set in its original location. Frank Hutmacher’s effort to preserve this way of life gives visitors a rare glimpse back in time.
An Ordinary Farmstead
