Step back in time with the Chesapeake Forum on March 21st with a tour of Dorchester County’s Spocott Farm. Settled in 17th century by the family of Chesapeake Forum instructor George Radcliffe, Jr., the 7th generation to call Spocott home, the farm is a reflection of the the world in which Senator George L. Radcliffe grew up. Much still survives including a rambling family home, the famous Spocott Windmill and a village where workers handcrafted everything the farm needed.
Spocott Windmill
The tour is in conjunction with Radcliffe’s course “The Extraordinary Life of Senator George L. Radcliffe.” You do not need to be registered in the full course to participate.
Spocott Farm was settled in 1663 by Stephen Gary, the fifth great grandfather of the Senator. After the Civil War, the farm was expanded by John and Sophie Radcliffe to make room for their larger combined households. It was a place where family was defined on a larger scale with everyone living, working, and celebrating together. The inhabitants of Spocott operated as a completely self-sufficient community, growing
cotton and raising sheep for clothes, making their shoes, building structures and furniture with wood from the Spocott forests, forming nails and hardware in the family blacksmith shop, and growing all needed food and livestock. John built a schoolhouse on the property. Blacks and whites worked side-by-side as equals.
In 1970, when Senator Radcliffe returned to his beloved Spocott, he was ready for another project — to restore his father’s windmill that had been blown down in 1888. Forming the Spocott Windmill Foundation, he hired a master boatbuilder, James Richardson. Working from a model, Captain Jim and his crew built the two-story English post mill in the same location as the original. The mill was dedicated and presented to the Senator on his ninety-fifth birthday August 22, 1972.
A Tour of Spocott Farm is one (1) session, Tuesday March 21st from 1-3 PM, in person, $15. To register visit https://chesapeakeforum.org
Chesapeake Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing lifelong learning opportunities for residents of the Eastern Shore. To receive Chesapeake Forum’s newsletter, send your contact information to [email protected]
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