Visitors to the Ardenwood Farm Harvest Festival on Oct. 11 and 12 enjoyed some old-time country while helping bring in this year’s crop of corn for Ardenwood programs and animals. Kids and adults searched the field for ears of flint corn or popcorn.
Around the beautifully preserved grounds they enjoyed many seasonal activities, such as cider pressing, live music and historic crafts. The beloved narrow-gauge train carried passengers on a tour around the farm and docents led tours, talking about what late-19th century life was like on the farm.
Ardenwood Historic Farm is a Regional Historic Landmark in Fremont. It is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). The Ardenwood Historic Farm consists of the Ardenwood Station, the former Ohlone village and burial site, a blacksmith shop, an area with farm animals, Patterson House and a gazebo.
Victor Carvellas
Victor Carvellas
Ardenwood Farm was established in 1857 by George Washington Patterson, who turned from gold prospecting to farming the rich local soil. The farm grew to include grain fields and livestock, and the original farmhouse was expanded in 1889 into an elegant Victorian residence known as the Patterson House, so-called because the Patterson family lived on the farm for three generations, from the 1850s until the late 1970s.
After the family sold the property, the EBRPD took over management in 1985, preserving it as a working, turn-of-the-century farm. The farm continues to grow crops like wheat, hay and corn, reflecting its historical agricultural roots.
Ardenwood Farm sits upon the ancestral lands of the Tuibun Ohlone people. In their statement in the festival program, EBRPD “invites the public to join them in honoring, with gratitude, the land itself and the people who have stewarded it since time immemorial and continue to remain deeply connected to it today.”
Ardenwood Historic Farm
34600 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont
510.544.2797
