Dudley Farm Historic State Park, Florida, United States
5.0 (80 reviews) Thursday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Spent 2-3 hours Ranking #1 in Newberry Visitor Centers • Speciality Museums • Parks
A trip back in time
Dudley Farm near Gainesville is an early pioneer farm established before the Civil War. Currently it covers 325 of the original 640 acres that were operated by the Dudley family for three generations. An authentic working farm, the homestead consists of eighteen buildings. These are restored - NOT recreated - and include the family farmhouse with original furnishings, an 1880's kitchen outbuilding, a general store and post office, and a cane syrup complex. Park staff in period clothing perform daily chores, raising crops, and tending to livestock. The farm features seasonal cane grindings, corn shuckings, and heritage varieties of livestock and plants. Deer, wild turkeys, gopher tortoises, and bluebirds are still seen in the fields. Our hope is that it will become not simply a static historic site, but rather a living laboratory where future Floridians can step back in time to feel what it is like to till the earth, plow a field, plant a crop, bring the harvest in, mark the changes of the seasons, and like the Dudleys, call a place home.
Address
18730 W Newberry Rd, Newberry, FL 32669-2192
Mobile
Website
http://www.friendsofdudleyfarm.org
Working hours
Monday :
Tuesday :
Wednesday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday : 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Current local date and time now
Thursday, May 09, 2024, 18:00
User Ratings
5.0 based on (80 reviews)
Reviews
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5pasherry 5:00 PM Jan 11, 2022
Nice historic farm
Located near the small town of Newberry this state park is worth visiting if you like historic farms. There is a $5 vehicle fee. Watch the short video first which tells the history of the farm owned by the Dudley family since mid 1800. There are 18 original buildings that still stand today and are reached by a short walk from the visitor center. The structures are well maintained and displays are nice especially the farmhouse and kitchen. You can’t actually enter the rooms but you can see them through the doorways. As this is still a working farm, usually there are living history demonstrations but the day we went there was only a man plowing the field. We saw cattle, horses, turkeys and chickens and a nice garden. The store is nice with unique items. We enjoyed our visit and will return when they have farm demonstrations. They do not allow pets on the grounds so leave them at home.
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557Lulu 5:00 PM Dec 7, 2022
A great visit for us - see the farm!
Stopped here on our way up North to Gainesville. It was the honor system to pay the $5 parking fee on a Wednesday so take cash. You place your money in an envelope at the entrance, tear off the receipt for your car dashboard and place the envelope into a slot in a container. We started off going through the welcome center and learning about the Dudleys and the farm. We then moved to the commissary where we purchased some homemade jam. We then walked down to the farm (maybe .3 mile) and ran into a volunteer who was a wealth of information regarding the Dudleys, the farm and general farming in Florida. He took us through the buildings. We would not have gotten as much information as we did without his knowledge. Since we live in Florida, we got some good citrus growing advice too! We saw the turkeys, the chickens and the cracker horses. It was more than we thought it would be.
