Billings Farm & Museum Visit and Review


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Billings Farm & Museum is located in beautiful Woodstock, VT. It is an operational dairy farm(I was told by a farm worker that all their milk is used in the making of Cabot cheese) and museum that depicts Vermont’s agricultural past. The farm has Jersey Cows, Draft Horses, Sheep, Oxen and Chickens. Billings Farm was established in 1871 by Frederick Billings  who became known for his work as a lawyer, conservationist, pioneer in reforestation and scientific farm management, and railroad builder. He was determined to make his 270 acre farm a model dairy farm. He became deeply concerned about the condition of Vermont’s forest cover so he planted more than 10,000 trees in the Woodstock area. By 1890 when Billings died the farm had expanded to 1,000 acres and was widely acknowledged for its premier Jersey herd, Southdown sheep, and Berkshire hogs, as well as its extensive butter-making operation which produced 5,000 pounds of butter annually.

Today when you visit Billings Farm and Museum you can tour the operational diary farm, visit the huge museum and step back in time when you visit the restored 1890’s farm house.

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We started off by heading to see all the animals. One of the really cool things about Billings is they are determined to keep their animals healthy and the visitors healthy so there are sanitation mats you have to step on when enter and exiting buildings with animals. It was just a huge squashy mat that was really easy for me to walk over in 3 inch heels so as you can imagine they are super safe.

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We visited the Heifer pen first which is located near the horse barn.

We visited the horse barn and there was only two horses in their at that moment and the rest were out in the field. The stalls all had their names, ages and breeds which was really interesting.

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Next was onto the tack room which had all of the tack hung up with their name tags.

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Beyond the doors of the horse barn and tack room was the nursery and the dairy farm. Here we were able to get up close to the cows and even pet them. There was a few workers there who awnsered all the questions we had and the barn was super clean and easy to walk around. DSCF1730 DSCF1735 DSCF1736

From there we visited the sheep and the horses. DSCF1737 DSCF1740 DSCF1742

We also made a visit to The Dairy Bar which sells sells ice cream, milk, healthy snacks, seasonal hot and cold drinks, and a Farm Picnic lunch of cheese, crackers, and fruit. we purcahsed these adorable little package of smoked cheese.

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 I was super excited to tour the 1890 Farm House. The house contains a business office for the farm manager, private living space for the manager and his family, a creamery, and an adjoining ice house. The house incorporated state-of-the art creamery equipment, as well as many indoor conveniences. Construction of the house began in 1889 and was finished a year later. The first occupant of the house was George Aitken, Billings Farm’s first professional farm manager. Aitken lived in the house with his wife and four daughters from 1890 until his death in 1910.

First Floor

PicMonkey Collage

Second Floor

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We left the farm house and walked the grounds looking at all the animals. DSCF1808 DSCF1805 DSCF1819

On our way out we visited the museum and the gift shop.

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Review:

The whole family had a blast at Billings. There was A lot to do, the staff was super helpful and everywhere was so clean. We had a lot of fun touching the animals and learning all about farming in our state. I suggest if you are going to visit to set aside a few hours because the museum its self spans a huge barn and is two floors. We will defiantly be returning!

Helpful Information:

Billings Farm and Museum is Located at 5302 River Rd, Woodstock, VT 05091.

Open daily, May 1 through October 31, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
November-February Weekends, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Christmas and February Vacation Weeks, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Admission:

$14.00 Adults age 16-61
$13.00 Seniors age 62 and over
$8.00 Children age 5-15
$4.00 Children age 3-4
Billings Farm & Museum members: Free.
(Major credit cards accepted.)

Combination Ticket available only Memorial Day Weekend-October 31: purchase one ticket and receive discounted admission for both the Billings Farm & Museum and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Valid for two days. Prices are:
$19.00 Adults age 16-61
$15.00 Seniors age 62 and over

Be sure to follow them on Facebook! 

Online Gift Shop

*I did not receive free tickets or any compensation to write this review. My family purchased the tickets 100% out of pocket* 

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