The Dudley Farm • 2351 Durham Rd, Guilford, CT 06437 • 203–457–0770
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Photo by Barbara Hanson.
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The Dudley Farm Museum History
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Photo by Judy Stone.
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The Dudley Farm was built in 1844 by Erastus Dudley, a prosperous North Guilford farmer, gristmill and tannery owner. Today, the house, barns and surrounding ten picturesque acres occupy a portion of the land farmed by the Dudley family for almost 300 years. The last family member, David Dudley, gave the farm to the North Guilford Volunteer Fire Company upon his death in 1991. Lamenting the disappearance of farm life in the face of the rapid development of the late 20th century, the Volunteer Fire Company decided to establish a farm museum to preserve the region's agricultural heritage. Thus was born the Dudley Foundation, a nonprofit, member supported organization that maintains, through the work of volunteers, the Dudley Farm as a late 19th century farm museum. The restored farm house, barns and grounds allow visitors to experience life as it once was.
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Photo by Judy Stone.
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Tours of the farm house introduce visitors to life in the year 1900 through its rooms and furnishings while stories of the home’s inhabitants and the lifestyle of the time bring the past alive. The barns and out buildings, with displays of tools and farm equipment, and animals representative of the period, give a unique glimpse into life and work on a family farm. The grounds of the Dudley Farm include period flower and herb gardens, a farm garden, cropland, meadows and woods which all evoke a gentle sense of the past.
A visit to the Dudley Farm is a step back in time,
a rural retreat from the past preserved for the future.
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Pen and Ink Illustration by Doug Williamson.
Website built by 0xD.com and updated by Nimble Acorn Design.
Copyright © 2006-2013, The Dudley Foundation.
All rights reserved.
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