| Step back in time and discover a
piece of the past waiting for you! Representative of rural Delaware
and Delmarva towns of the past, the re-created village of Loockerman Landing
is waiting for you to explore. Stroll through the restored buildings,
and gaze on hundreds of wonderful sights. Explore, wander, and wonder...
Loockerman Landing Train Station(ca.
1864)
Train stations helped to open many markets for farmers
during the mid-19th century. Canned goods, produce, and livestock
were shipped by train across the United States.
Gourley Barbershop
(ca. 1900)
Men went to the barbershop to have a hair cut, a shave,
and to talk about politics, sporting events, and local news. |
|
Reed General Store
(ca. 1873)
The opening of a country store often led to the formation
of a village. The store was the place where goods, services, ideas,
and gossip were exchanged.
St. Thomas Church
(ca. 1857)
The church was typically the first building constructed
in towns of the 1800s. It served not only as a home for spiritual
nurturing, but also as a community center where farm families met to socialize,
to care for the less fortunate and to find solutions to problems facing
the community.
Mill Lane School (ca.1850)
One teacher taught 16 students, grades one through eight,
in this one-room school house. Children did their schoolwork on slates
with slate pencils, and recited their lessons daily for the teacher.
Silver Lake Mill
(1980)
This is a replica of a 19th-century water-powered grist
and saw mill. Farmers brought their grain to a mill to be ground into flour
and their lumber to be sawed into boards.
Privies (ca.
1890)
Prior to the introduction of indoor plumbing in the 20th
century, the privy or outhouse was the farmer’s toilet. Corn cobs were
used as toilet paper.
Johnson & Son Blacksmith
(ca. 1850 ) /
Wheelwright Shop
(ca.1886)
Most rural communities had a blacksmith and wheelwright.
The blacksmith made everything from nails to kitchen utensils. He worked
with the wheelwright who built and repaired wagons. |
Cornhouse
(ca.1825)
The farmer dried his field corn in a cornhouse. The corn
was used for animal feed.
Meathouse (ca.1870)
Farmers slaughtered their hogs in the fall. The meat
was preserved with salt and then hung from the beams of the meathouse to
prevent rats from eating it.
Barn (ca. 1890)
The first building a farmer constructed was usually his
barn, so that he could have a safe, dry home for his horses, oxen, sheep,
goats, and cattle. The loft was used for storing animal feed.
Wagon Shed
(ca.1885)
The farmer stored his horse-drawn wagons, carts, buggies
and farm equipment in the wagon shed.
The Farmhouse
(ca. 1893)
In the parlor, farm families entertained their guests.
The farmer’s wife spent most of her time in the kitchen cooking on the
woodstove and doing laundry. During the summer months, cooking was
done in the summer kitchen, which was separate from the main house.
Granary (ca.
1900)
The farmer cleaned and stored threshed wheat and shelled
corn in the granary. The top floor was used to store grains.
Hen House (ca.
1926)
The hen house was built close to the farmhouse because
the care of the chickens was the responsibility of the wife. She and her
children gathered eggs to sell in the village. |
