Visiting Woodville Plantation

One of my goals I have set is to travel and see more of my surrounding local area on day trips. Today I traveled to see the Woodville Plantation (Neville House) located in South Western Pennsylvania. I was pleasantly surprised with the museum who is hidden from the road behind shrubs and a white picket fence.

This site was built around 1775 for John Neville and his family. Neville was an American Solider and Colonel during the French and Indian War and The Revolutionary War. As well as a tax collector and land surveyor for the local area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . It was during his service as a collector when The Whiskey Rebellion took place in 1794. In which Neville made sure local farmers were following the tax orders on their whiskey. Resulting a revolt, for the farmers were receiving little money from their production and had to pay more on tax.

The house has been passed through the Neville family and two other’s before it became a museum in 1976. Today you can see the main house and all the expansions each family made during their stays on the plantation. There is also a still house, kitchen yard and gardens on the property. It is beautiful preserved and full of history. All of the volunteers and docents were filled with knowledge, on each of the families and the daily life of the locals including the Native Americans who resided on the land originally.

Earlier today, the museum open for daily tours including a walk through the gardens. There were volunteers telling of all the herbs and vegetables found within it. The garden grows each year if what was harvested back in the 18th century and early 19th century. Some present herbs were lavender, chamomile, purple sage, rosemary and thyme. The spearmint grown they had turned into an ice tea which was delicious and combated the heat! Vegetables such as Swiss chard, tomato plants and kale were growing strongly in surplus.

The main focal point in the garden was the “Three Sisters” planting method. This was the processed used by Native Americans to grow corn, beans, and squash. First they would grow corn to at least above the knee then planted the beans and squash to grow up the corn stalk. I was fascinated to see this in person, since I learned of this technique during elementary schools years.

I enjoyed visiting the plantation and learning more about the history of my local region. If you are ever in the area of the Woodville Planation I suggest you to make a stop. They hold many types of events as well through out the year about local history and The Whiskey Rebellion besides regular tours.