Carriage Hill Metro Park has several attractions for tourists to see. The park is located in Huber Heights Ohio and is free of charge. The site was home to Daniel and Catherine Arnold along with their five children. As their children grew older, more and more of the land was bought by the children and the farm prospered under their ownership. Some of the sites to see are the Original Log House that the Arnold family resided in, the engine Shed, the blacksmith Shop, a log barn, an icehouse, Daniel Arnold house, a summer kitchen, an ash house, gardens, buggy shed, a poultry house, a sawmill site, a truck patch, equipment graveyard, a cemetery, crop demonstrations, a pond, as well as other attractions. There are also activities to do at the park. Tourists can enjoy fishing, horseback riding, picnicking, hiking, camping, and eating candy from the penny candy shop.
The large barn holds several exhibits explaining what was going on in the world at the time of the Arnold Family’s ownership. Upstairs of the barn contains several displays about farm life in the 1800s. Dowstairs there is a store made to look like a store from that time period. It even sells candy by the piece, just like long ago. I bought two malted milk balls for just five cents.
There is a mock school house on the second floor which allows visitors to see what schools were like for farming communities. The school room was very small, but was able to fit many children for a day of learning.
There was an audible display along the wall that compared rural women to urban women of the 1800s. One side of the exhibit is a rural women and her point of view, the other side of the display is the urban women and her point of view. Both have very contradictory views, but have so much in common. Both women are philanthropists, but have different ways of volunteering their services. They both have different roles in their communities, take care of their families in different ways, and are looked at differently by their communities. Both women were strong women and highly respected.
The following is a slideshow of two children enjoying their day at the farm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk5gB1InqfE
You will like touring Carriage Hill! Look for the new baby animal additions. I have been thinking about going back to see them too. I would suggest to take lots of pictures of the tools and what they are. Also, collect the pieces of papers about the farm and tools so you know what to write about later. For the horseback riding, I went sevearl years ago there and loved it. Now they have a new director running the place, which they have made many new additions. The new director is so nice and will answer any questions, at least he was there when I went. Personally, it was one of my favorite things to go see. I hope you enjoy the trip!