A Historic Southern Farm Tour

Farmer Brett Banor gives us a tour of the historic 18th century Smith Family Farm located in Atlanta, Georgia.

By: Andrew Sisk

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Photo By: Photo by Andrew Sisk

Farmer Brett

The Atlanta History Center maintains a working, historically-accurate Smith Family Farm on their property where Brett Bannor tends the chickens and gardens in period dress.

Chicken Whisperer

Historic farmer Brett Bannor cradles one of the flock of Rhode Island Reds kept on the Atlanta History Center's grounds to teach visitors about early southern farming and growing traditions.

A Rooster Among Hens

The circa 1845-1850 Smith Family Farm features Rhode Island Reds. In the Antebellum era hens only laid in spring and summer. Through selective breeding, today's chickens lay eggs year-round.

Classic Coop

The historic Smith Family Farm chicken coop features a sheltered chicken run to offer chickens respite from the intense southern sun.

Handwritten Date on an Egg

Farmer Brett Holding Eggs

Farm House

The Tullie Smith House, a plantation-plain house built in the 1840s by the Robert Smith family, was originally located east of Atlanta. The house survived the widespread destruction in the area during the Civil War and was moved to The Atlanta History Center in the 1970s.

Blacksmith Hut

Historic Slave Quarters

The Atlanta History Center is careful to point out, that much of the agrarian economy of the South was founded on slave labor.

Well

Kitten Patrol

An early form of organic pest control, cats and kittens are great for keeping vermin at bay.

Farmer Brett's Goats

In addition to chickens, the Atlanta History Center's Smith Family Farm features goats, which help give visitors the sense of what a historic southern homestead might have looked and felt like.

A Newborn Kid

The Kids Are All Right

Farm Decor

Southern Farm

The Smith Family Farm at the Atlanta History Center maintains a garden where staple crops that would have been grown on a Georgia farm during the Civil War years are maintained.