Ardenwood Historic Farm

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name = George Washington Patterson Ranch--Ardenwood
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caption = A view of the Patterson House during a Civil War demonstration during Memorial Day 2003
location = 34600 Newark Blvd.
Fremont, California
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architect = James Hawley
architecture = Queen Anne
added = November 29, 1985
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refnum = 85003043
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Ardenwood Historic Farm is a Regional Historic Landmark in Fremont, California.

Description

Officially opened to the public on July 28 1985, the entire park includes a farm, a large forest and a mansion now called the Patterson House which was first constructed in 1857 by the farm's original owner, George Washington Patterson.

Patterson called his estate "Ardenwood", after the forested area in England mentioned in Shakespeare's play, "As You Like It". There were two subsequent additions to the house. The largest was in 1889 when Patterson and his wife Clara added the Queen Anne Victorian section to the House. The second addition came in 1915 when Patterson's son Henry and his wife remodeled the old farm house section, and added rooms including the kitchen, a large bedroom above the kitchen, the sun porch, nursery, and a bathroom with indoor plumbing. [ [http://www.pattersonranch.net/about_patterson_ranch.html#Family Patterson Ranch - About Patterson Ranch ] ]

A feature of the park is a horse-drawn railway, a recreation of a historic local branch of the South Pacific Coast Railroad.

The park hosts many events, including a Civil War reenactment in the summer, a Celtic festival [ [http://www.ardenwood-celtic-festival.com/4436.html Ardenwood Celtic Festival ] ] , an Independence Day celebration, the Washington Township Railroad Fair on Labor Day, The Harvest Festival in October, a Zydeco concert, and many Halloween celebrations, complete with a haunted railroad. Among other crops, in the fall the farm harvests a large pumpkin patch and a large field of corn which is cut into a giant maze.

Historic area agricultural usage

The Ardenwood Farm today is a working farm producing grain and vegetables. The local area was in agricultural usage beginning sometime in the 1850s. ["Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, APN 537-521-1-11, Fremont, California", Earth Metrics Inc. report 10302, Nov. 15, 1989] The Ardenwood Farm locale was characterized first for its use as grazing land and dairy production, and gradually became increasingly dedicated to wheat and vegetable production.

A review of available aerial photographs by Earth Metrics reveals ["Aerial Photo GS-VACY 1-99", July 12, 1960, United States Geological Survey Photo Library, Washington DC", ] that the area immediately to the south was used for agricultural purposes from at least 1960 until some time in the late 1970s cultivated with a grain crop. No discrete rows are visible in the aerial photographs of that time. The Alameda family was a prominent occupant in the area for much of the period of agricultural land use. Mel Alameda of The Alameda Company confirmed to Earth Metrics that while cauliflower has been the dominant historic crop for the area, hay and grazing were the primary use later and until the late 1970s. Based on the lack of visible rows on the aerial photos, it is most probable that the area to the south was used for hay production rather than cauliflower.

Image gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.ebparks.org/parks/ardenwood Ardenwood Historic Farm]
* [http://fremont.gov/Recreation/ArdenwoodPark/Events.htm City of Fremont Ardenwood Historic Farm Events]
* [http://www.pattersonranch.net/about_patterson_ranch.html#Ardenwood Ardenwood History Time Line]
* [http://www.ardenwoodforge.com/ Ardenwood Forge]
* [http://spcrr.org Society for Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources]
* [http://www.pbase.com/sakane/070818 2007 Civil War Reenactment]