top of page

Authentically Rural Weekend Highlights Freeville

  • Writer: Ithaca Heritage
    Ithaca Heritage
  • Jun 2, 2022
  • 2 min read

FROM HTTP://WWW.FREEVILLENY.ORG/GALLERIES/OLD-FREEVILLE-PHOTOS/

When Ithaca Heritage partners first started planning the Authentically Rural Weekend (October 5-7, 2018), we had to think about what makes Tompkins County’s rural heritage distinctive and attractive to residents and visitors alike. Part of what makes Tompkins County distinctive is the continued vitality of rural areas with their own identities quite separate from the county seat of Ithaca. Trumansburg, Enfield, Newfield, Danby, Caroline, Lansing, Groton, Dryden—all of these are unique towns with their own identities that haven’t just become bedroom communities for Ithaca. Luckily we have a rich tradition of local historians and writers who have documented these rural communities.

One of those writers is Amy Dickinson, whose Mighty Queens of Freeville (2009) captures the complexities of small-town life in rural Tompkins County. In the book, Dickinson shares her difficult childhood growing up in Freeville and recounts her return as an adult, when she spends summer days with her daughter riding bikes, kayaking, and going “’porch visiting’—setting out from our house on Main Street and spending the day roaming from porch to porch—from grandmother to cousins to sisters to aunts—admiring gardens and drinking iced tea.” Dickinson describes the extended family ties, community traditions, farm-raised produce, and rural landscapes that define Freeville.

During the Authentically Rural Weekend, we’ll be exploring Freeville (“The only Freeville in the United States”!). Originally a hamlet known as White’s Mill, the village was a mill hub by the early 1800s and then later a railroad junction. A mix of Greek Revival and Queen Anne homes lines its Main Street. Explore the stories and people behind its historic architecture, along with two of its farms, on the Authentically Rural Farm & Village guided bus tour on Saturday, October 6, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Get your tickets ($35) today: https://tinyurl.com/y8elccrd.

For more information about the entire Authentically Rural Weekend of events, go to http://www.ithacaheritage.com/authentically-rural-weekend/.


FROM HTTP://WWW.FREEVILLENY.ORG/GALLERIES/OLD-FREEVILLE-PHOTOS/

Comments


FIND US

Historic Ithaca

212 Center Street

Ithaca, NY 14850

607 - 273 - 6633

info@historicithaca.org

Open M-F

9am to 5pm

[Call for an appointment]

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
White IURA-01-01.png
White NYSCA-01.png
White Park Foundation-01.png

The programs of Historic Ithaca are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor & the New York State Legislature. 
Funding for Work Preserve has been provided by the City of Ithaca Community Development Block Grant Program and the Park Foundation.
This website was made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation of Tompkins County

bottom of page