Enjoy Christmas at the Living History Farm

The L.W. Paul Living History Farm welcomes everyone to enjoy Christmas at the Farm on December 5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The working farm, a part of the Horry County Museum, allows visitors to experience what life was like from 1900 to 1955 on a one horse family farm.

The 17-acre farm is located at 2279 Harris Short Cut Road, at the intersection of S.C. 701 north of Conway. Admission is always free.

The L.W. Paul Living History Farm began as the vision of businessman Larry Paul, who grew up in a large farm family. He wanted to provide Horry County and the Horry County Museum a place to educate future generations about farming during those years. He constructed the farm buildings, including a house, church, tobacco barn and much more on land designated by the count, and he donated an array of artifacts. The farm is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Several special events are held annually.

Visitors to Christmas at the Farm will have the opportunity to watch demonstrations, and to observe activities reflecting Christmas when Paul and his siblings were growing up.

“At Christmas, Daddy would cut a small pine tree from the woods and nail it on a board so it would stand erect,” Paul said. “He cut out a star shape from cardboard and we covered it with aluminum foil to make our star. We had minimal tree decorations, but Santa would come. Everybody would have a small brown paper bag. That is what we would get — a brown paper bag with one small toy. The sack would also have two or three Brazil nuts, a handful of pecans, and some fruit. We’d get apiece of peppermint candy, a tangerine or orange. I cherished the little toy I got each year and I took better care of my toy and therefore it lasted longer than anyone else’s.”

Walter Hill is director of the Horry County Museum. Wayne Skipper is manager of the L.W. Paul Living History Farm. A great deal of the work, demonstrations and activities are performed by volunteers who are members of Friends of the Museum. The Museum always needs volunteers to cultivate the farm garden, help with children’s programs and do many other things.

The Horry County Museum is at 805 Main Street in Conway and is “dedicated to collect and preserve material related to the prehistory, natural history, history and culture of the county.” It is in the renovated1905 Burroughs School, where generations of Conway children were educated, and includes the beautiful McCown Auditorium, where multitudes of people have made lifelong memories for over a century and are still doing so. The museum offers free events there, and on December 12 at 1 p.m., Wayne Skipper and Friends will present traditional Christmas music.

For information on the Horry County Museum or its L.W. Paul Living History Farm, visit www.horrycountymuseum.org. Call the museum at 915-5320 or the Farm at 365-3596.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 4:09 AM with the headline "Enjoy Christmas at the Living History Farm."