Pioneer Farms is a Living History Park in northeastern Travis County given by the grandchildren of the Jourdan Family to honor the early pioneers who settled in the Austin area in the mid-to-late 1800s. The Jourdan cabin is original to the site, and 16 other period structures have been moved to the farm from nearby locations.
Northwest Rotary Club was honored by being allowed to "adopt" and maintain the Bell House, a Greek Revival-style plantation house built about 1859 and moved from the rolling Blackland prairie east of Round Rock in the late 1990s.The Bell House was named after its owner, James Bell, a Harvard-educated attorney and an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He supported Governor Sam Houston in opposing Texas' secession. But, unlike Houston, he remained an elected official during the Civil War. He and his wife, Catherine, raised five children in the home, which was the centerpiece of their 600-acre cotton farm. Outbuildings include an outhouse, smokehouse, kitchen, and wash/weaving room.Northwest Austin Rotary has a day each month at the Bell House to paint the picket fence, work in the yard or keep the inside of the house clean. If we are lucky, one of the donkeys will welcome us, or we have to stop to catch a turkey that got out of its coop. But best of all, we have become closer friends and are helping maintain a part of Texas history.Pioneer Farms is open to the public Thursday through Sunday and is a great place to schedule a party.