Claude Moore Colonial Farm, Living history museum in McLean, US
Claude Moore Colonial Farm is a living history museum in Fairfax County that recreates a colonial tenant farm. The property contains period buildings, barns, gardens, and animal areas that show how an ordinary family lived and worked roughly 250 years ago.
The museum was created in 1973 to document life during the American Revolutionary period. It operated under the National Park Service until 2018, preserving the story of how people lived during that time.
The site focuses on the lives of common tenant farmers rather than wealthy landowners, which sets it apart from typical colonial museums. Visitors experience how ordinary families managed their daily work and homes, not the estates of the privileged.
Plan to spend at least a couple of hours to explore the different areas and buildings at your own pace. The open grounds allow visitors to walk freely without strict schedules or guided-route requirements.
Staff members used only 18th-century farming techniques, tools, and clothing during daily operations. This commitment to authenticity gave visitors a genuine sense of how physically demanding and difficult farm work truly was in that era.
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