Take the Virtual Tour at Casey Farm

Saunderstown, February 2021 – Historic New England selected five historic properties and two neighborhoods in Vermont to create new digital experiences encompassing all six New England states. Casey Farm in Saunderstown is the Rhode Island property that was chosen. With new research and never-before-seen videos and photographs, these buildings, landscapes, objects, and stories are more accessible than ever before.

The project was funded by a grant that is part of the NEH CARES Act economic stabilization program. These grants support essential operations at more than three hundred cultural institutions across the country. The NEH was created in 1965 as an independent federal agency. It supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the NEH and its grant programs is available at neh.gov.

This new tour experience is available to everyone at https://Casey.Farm and compatible with smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

Whether on the farm or from home, visitors can explore the whole of the 300 acre farm from Narragansett Bay to the Narrow River, and see represented more of the people who cultivated the land including Indigenous people, enslaved people, tenant farmers, and today’s forward-thinking professional farmers. Lorén Spears, executive director of the Tomaquag Museum, offers a perspective from the Narragansett nation in several videos. The lives of the generations of Caseys who owned and cared for this farm for more than 250 years are highlighted, as are features of the buildings and landscape they stewarded. Today’s organic produce, our many education programs, hiking trails, and farm animals all have their turn as stars of the show in zoomable images, videos, and even a 360-degree panoramic experience exploring the museum gallery and landscape. 

Jane Hennedy, site manager at Casey Farm, said “Our team designed something for everyone in our new virtual tour experience. The farm is part of the Rhode Island culture scene as a destination for many activities like farm tours, summer camp, or the farmers market. The virtual tour can enrich the on-site experience, and now people can explore Casey Farm from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.” 

The other virtual experiences offered by Historic New England through this NEH grant project are Sarah Orne Jewett House in Maine, Otis House in Boston, Rundlet-May House in New Hampshire, Roseland Cottage in Connecticut, and immigrant food markets in Vermont. Gropius House in Lincoln, Mass. and Eustis Estate in Milton, Mass. were the first virtual tours that Historic New England made available. Find links to these and much more at www.HistoricNewEngland.org.

 About Historic New England’s Casey Farm:

Casey Farm is one of thirty-six historic site attractions owned and operated by Historic New England, the oldest and largest regional heritage organization in the nation. Historic New England saves and shares historic homes, open space, collections, and stories from the past to today. There are four Historic New England sites in Rhode Island.

More about Historic New England and Casey Farm can be found here:  https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/casey-farm/