Step Back In Time at the Starr Home’s Victorian Fair
MARSHALL- The Starr Family Home State Historic Site will hold its 5th annual Victorian Fair on Saturday, October 26th, from 9:00am until 4:00pm. This living history event will feature over twenty costumed interpreters and craftspeople, who will both entertain and educate fairgoers about life in the late 19th Century Victorian era. Admission is free.
While the event will continue to feature such tried and true fair staples as traditional craft demonstrations, croquet, and hoop-and-stick games, organizers have added new attractions this year to give visitors a fresh take on life in the 1890s. Additionally, they want to give them a hands-on way to travel back in time.
“We are really looking to give fairgoers a more fun, interactive experience this year,” said office manager Bethany Dean. “We want them to feel more like participants than onlookers.”
Examples of such experiences will be era-appropriate etiquette lessons, a Victorian tea party, as well as the opportunity to try one’s hand at leather stamping and stilt walking. Visitors can even take part in a parlor room séance, a popular fad of the late 1800s.Other new attractions include a bucket brigade, presented by the Marshall Fire Department, and a traveling Medicine Show. Musicians will add to the festivities with Victorian era tunes.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Dean. “There will be something for everyone, both young and old.”
The Starr Family Home State Historic Site, a Texas Historical Commission property, tells the real story and 150-year history of four generations of the Starr family in Texas. Nestled in the heart of Marshall, this landscaped three-acre site features vibrant foliage and six historic buildings. The site’s elegant structures include the Maplecroft mansion, a 19th-century schoolhouse, 1906-era Starr-Blake House and Rosemont Cottage. For more information visit visitstarrfamilyhome.com.