Billings Farm Museum offers visitors the opportunity to experience traditional farming life in Vermont and the lives of the Marsh and Billings families in the 19th century. There is an exhibition, housed in the 19th century barns, that uses photographs and oral history to demonstrate life on the farm. Visitors can visit the working farm with Jersey cows, calves, sheep and chickens, and learn how to make butter. The farm house has been restored to the 1890s and features the creamery, farm office and the rooms where the family lived. The Museum also presents the Academy award nominee film 'A Place in the Land' in its theater, which depicts the Farm and the people who worked the land for over 200 years.
Billings Farm was set up in 1871 by Frederick Billings, a lawyer, and pioneer in farming and forest management. He set up a 270-acre dairy farm with cattle imported from the Isle of Jersey that were known for their creamy milk. He also planted thousands of trees to improve the local forests. By the time Billings died the Farm had increased to over 1,000 acres and was known for its Jersey herd, Southdown sheep and the 5,000 pounds of butter produced every year.
The farm hosts events through the year including sleigh rides over frozen fields, plowing matches and sheep shearing weekends. Visit the Dairy Bar for an ice cream or a healthy farm picnic. Snacks and drinks can also be bought from the Museum Shop and the gift shop sells books, postcards and items from gifts from Vermont.
