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View related multimedia and linksRural Trades Historic Farmers
Rural Trades encompass the life skills of colonial Virginians
Artisans played a vital role on the plantations, farms, and in rural communities surrounding Williamsburg. There they concentrated in the trades most useful to agricultural communities. Carpenters, coopers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, tanners, shoemakers, and tailors provided goods and services for rural households. Middling farmers worked the land and generally grew cash crops of tobacco, corn, wheat, and some cotton, as well as foodstuff for their consumption. They tended livestock, including cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, plus a few oxen and horses.
Today, Colonial Williamsburg’s Rural Trades represents middling farmers using 18th-century methods at Great Hopes Plantation. Here the Historic Farmers work heirloom-variety crops consisting of corn, tobacco, and wheat. Powerful oxen haul manure and pull plows through the fields, while work horses cultivate the weeds from between the plants. The 21st-century tradesmen also tend poultry, sheep, and hogs—some of which are a part of Colonial Williamsburg’s Rare Breeds program.
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Sharing a Love of the Garden
Wesley Green loves to share his knowledge of 18th-century plants with visitors of all ages in the colonial garden on Duke of Gloucester Street. May 29, 2006
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Interpreting Colonial Farming
Generations of family farmers inspire David Nielsen in his work in the rural trades. May 22, 2006
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Zooarchaeology
Zooarchaeologist Joanne Bowen decodes 400-year-old leftovers. June 8, 2009
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Colonial Children's Dance
Youth interpreters in Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area enliven parlors and stages with dancing demonstrations. Kelly McEvoy details the colonial pastime. August 27, 2007
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Jamestown Unearthed, Part Two
With 60 percent of James Fort unexplored, the island outpost guards a wealth of stories. Bill Kelso continues the hunt for discovery. October 8, 2007
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The Wren Building
Williamsburg's restoration got underway in earnest with the College of William and Mary's Wren Building, explains Louise Kale, director of the Historic Campus. October 20, 2008
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Middling Planters Took Hard Road to Wealth, Respectability in Colonial Virginia
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