Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation in Newtown Square lets visitors live like the 1700s

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation is a living history farm tucked away on the grounds of Ridley Creek State Park in Newtown Square.

"We're an historic site that's in the middle of a very quiet place," said Chuck Barr, board president of Colonial Plantation.

The plantation lets visitors experience what life was like in the 1700s on a farm.

A big part of that life is tending to sheep and other animals and spring is the time of year when they would begin shearing the sheep.

"It's actually really important for us to shear the sheep once a year. We bred them to hold onto it and so now it's our responsibility to shear it off," said Eva Mergen, historic skills coordinator at Colonial Plantation.

Mergen says it doesn't hurt the sheep and is actually really good for them, otherwise they could develop skin problems or overheat during the hot summer months.

They use the same kind of shears you'd see in the 18th century. Mergen says it takes 50 minutes to a little over an hour to shear each sheep.

"And they basically function like a large pair of scissors," said Mergen.

The plantation uses all the wool they shear for their programming, including their education programs where kids come and learn about 18th century life.

The Colonial Plantation is considered a living history farm, which means while museum preserves artifacts from the past, the plantation is preserving skills from the past.

"We try to do as many 18th century skills as we can. We want people to see those steps. We want people to connect with how it was done, how it was used," said Mergen.

For more information, visit: https://www.colonialplantation.org/