History and culture - Front Range
The Littleton Museum keeps two working pioneer farms
The Littleton Museum runs an 1860s and an 1890s living history farm where staff in period dress work the land, showing how settlement changed once the railroad arrived.
Published June 10, 2026 - Last verified June 10, 2026
If you want to understand why so much of Arapahoe County is laid out the way it is, the Littleton Museum is a good place to see the farming roots up close. The museum sits on a large property next to a lake and includes two living history farms.
The two farms are set in different decades on purpose. One represents the 1860s, the pioneer period before train travel, with an original log cabin and one of Littleton’s first one-room schoolhouses. The other represents the 1890s and looks more developed, because the railroad had arrived and made it easier to bring in tools, materials, and goods. Staff and volunteers in period clothing tend the animals, work a blacksmith shop, and run the schoolhouse, so the farms are working sites rather than static displays.
This is useful context for anyone moving to the area. The metro suburbs around here grew out of farmland and ranchland, and the canals, roads, and town centers still follow patterns set in those years. Seeing the difference between an 1860s homestead and an 1890s farm makes the railroad’s effect easy to picture.
The museum is operated by the City of Littleton, and hours and programs change by season. Check the Littleton Museum for current days, programs, and the agricultural history of the area.