The Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation, located on 112 acres of farmland in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, was first opened to the visiting public in 1974. The plantation is a research and educational facility dedicated to the discovery and preservation of knowledge about the ordinary citizen of the 18th century. Men maintain fences, care for the animals and produce crops.
Women grow, prepare, and preserve food, in addition to processing textiles.
Even children help with the farm work as soon as they are able. The Plantation sits only 16 miles from center city Philadelphia, yet its placement within Ridley Creek State Park provides a setting remarkably like the rural environment of 200 years ago. This land was originally part of a grant from William Penn's Commissioners, and it has been a working farm for over 250 years. Restoration of historic Plantation buildings, using 18th century tools and technology, was begun in 1973. Such techniques are now used in the upkeep of the Plantation grounds.