Visiting Smith Farm at the Atlanta History Center: A Local’s Guide

Smith Farm at the Atlanta History Center is one of the city’s most immersive spots for stepping back into the rural South of the 1860s—without ever leaving Buckhead. If you live in Atlanta or you’re visiting and want to understand more about the region’s agricultural and social history, this working farm is a practical, hands-on place to start.

What Is Smith Farm at the Atlanta History Center?

Smith Farm is a historic farmstead located on the grounds of the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead. It’s designed to represent a typical middle-class Georgia farm in the years leading up to the Civil War.

On the property you’ll find:

  • A historic farmhouse and outbuildings
  • Period-appropriate gardens and crops
  • Barns, sheds, and workspaces
  • Farm animals (often including sheep, goats, and chickens)
  • Interpreters who demonstrate 19th-century farm life

The focus is on showing daily life in rural Georgia, including the work of both white farm owners and enslaved African Americans who lived and labored on farms like this one.

Where Smith Farm Is Located in Atlanta

Smith Farm is part of the Atlanta History Center campus in Buckhead.

Address (Atlanta History Center & Smith Farm):
Atlanta History Center
130 West Paces Ferry Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30305
Phone: 404-814-4000

Smith Farm is one of several historic experiences on the grounds, along with:

  • The Swan House mansion
  • The Cyclorama exhibit
  • History galleries and rotating exhibits
  • Woodland trails and gardens

When you arrive, you’ll typically park in the main visitor parking area and then follow signs from the museum entrance to the outdoor areas where Smith Farm is located.

What You’ll See and Do at Smith Farm

Historic Buildings and Farm Layout

Smith Farm is arranged like a working 19th-century Georgia farm, with multiple structures:

  • Main farmhouse – Furnished to reflect rural domestic life in the 1800s.
  • Kitchen and outbuildings – Separate structures where cooking, food storage, and other tasks took place.
  • Barns and sheds – Spaces for tools, feed, and animals.
  • Slave cabin(s) – Interpreted to address the lives and labor of enslaved people on a farm like this.

You can walk through many of these areas, often with staff or guides available to answer questions.

Animals, Gardens, and Seasonal Work

A major part of the experience is seeing how a working farm functions:

  • Heritage animals like chickens, goats, or sheep
  • Crop fields and vegetable gardens laid out in 19th-century style
  • Demonstrations of seasonal farm tasks, such as planting, tending gardens, or simple agricultural chores

These elements help connect Atlanta’s modern city life to its agricultural roots in a tangible way.

Educational Focus: History, Enslavement, and Rural Life

Smith Farm doesn’t just show “quaint” farm scenes—it also addresses harder, necessary topics.

Interpreting Enslaved Life in Georgia

A core part of Smith Farm’s interpretation is the experience of enslaved African Americans who worked on rural farms:

  • Housing conditions in slave quarters
  • Daily labor in fields, gardens, and the farmhouse
  • Skills and knowledge enslaved people contributed to agriculture, cooking, and crafts
  • Family life and community under slavery

If you’re trying to understand how Atlanta and the broader region developed socially and economically, Smith Farm provides context that connects rural slavery to the growth of cities like Atlanta.

Everyday Skills and Technology of the Era

The farm also shows how people lived and worked before modern conveniences:

  • Hand tools for farming and carpentry
  • Open-hearth cooking practices
  • Food preservation methods like smoking, drying, and pickling
  • Home-based textile or craft work (as available seasonally)

This is especially useful if you’re visiting with children or students and want them to see history in a hands-on environment rather than on a page.

Visiting Smith Farm: Hours, Tickets, and Logistics

Smith Farm is accessed through general admission to the Atlanta History Center. It is not a separate, stand-alone attraction.

Typical Visitor Basics

While exact details can change, visitors can generally expect:

  • Access: Included with Atlanta History Center general admission
  • Hours: Usually aligned with the History Center’s daytime hours (often starting mid-morning and closing late afternoon or early evening)
  • Seasonal variation: Outdoor areas like Smith Farm are most active in pleasant weather; some activities may be reduced during extreme heat, cold, or storms

Because hours and programming can change, it’s best to:

  • Check the Atlanta History Center’s current operating hours before you go
  • Confirm whether any special programs or closures affect the farm area on your visit day

Getting There from Around Atlanta

From different parts of the city, typical options include:

  • By car:

    • From Midtown or Downtown: Drive north via I-75/85, connect to surface streets like Peachtree Road, then to West Paces Ferry Road NW.
    • On-site parking is available at the Atlanta History Center.

  • By MARTA (plus walking or rideshare):

    • Take the Red Line to Buckhead, Lenox, or Lindbergh Center stations.
    • From there, use a short rideshare or bus ride to reach 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW.

For visitors relying on transit, planning your route in advance is helpful, since the History Center is in a neighborhood with more car traffic than direct rail access.

How Long to Spend at Smith Farm

If you’re planning your day:

  • Quick visit: 30–45 minutes to walk the farm, see the buildings, and get a sense of the space.
  • Deeper visit: 1–2 hours if you want to talk with interpreters, watch demonstrations, and explore the gardens and outbuildings closely.

Most Atlanta visitors combine Smith Farm with:

  • The main History Center exhibits
  • A tour or walkthrough of Swan House
  • Time in the surrounding gardens and trails

For a local family outing or a history-focused visit, planning half a day at the Atlanta History Center campus is a reasonable approach.

Family and School Visits

For Families with Kids

Smith Farm is popular with Atlanta families because it’s:

  • Visual and hands-on – Animals, gardens, and tools make history feel real.
  • Outdoors – Kids can move around more freely than in a traditional gallery.
  • Conversation-starting – It opens up talks on where food comes from, how people used to live, and the history of slavery in Georgia.

Helpful tips for families:

  • 🧢 Bring hats and water in warmer months; the farm is mostly outdoors.
  • 👟 Wear comfortable shoes for walking on uneven ground and dirt paths.
  • 📝 If your child is doing a school project on Georgia history, bring a notebook for observations and questions.

For School and Group Visits

Many Atlanta-area schools and youth organizations use Smith Farm as a field trip site. Teachers and group leaders can usually:

  • Arrange guided programs that focus on Georgia history, slavery, or agricultural life
  • Coordinate with the History Center’s education staff for age-appropriate interpretation and activities

For up-to-date field trip and group visit options, contact the Atlanta History Center directly:

  • Education / Group Visit Inquiries:
    Phone: 404-814-4000 (main line; ask for education or group bookings)

Seasonal Events and Special Programs

Smith Farm often becomes a focal point during:

  • Harvest-themed events in the fall
  • Seasonal garden activities in spring and early summer
  • Special interpretation days focused on enslaved life, foodways, or traditional crafts

Many Atlanta residents like to return at different times of year to see how the farm changes with the seasons—crops at different stages, different tasks being demonstrated, and varying program themes.

Since schedules can shift from year to year, checking the current calendar of events from the Atlanta History Center before heading out is the best way to learn what’s happening at Smith Farm during your visit.

Accessibility and Practical Considerations

Because Smith Farm is a historic outdoor site, conditions can differ from indoor galleries.

Terrain and movement:

  • Expect gravel paths, dirt, and some uneven surfaces.
  • Some historic structures may have steps or narrow doorways.
  • Visitors who use mobility aids may find some areas more challenging than others, though portions of the grounds are typically more accessible.

Weather and comfort:

  • Much of the experience is outdoors; in Atlanta’s hot, humid summers, shade and hydration are important.
  • After rain, pathways may be muddy or slick.

If you or someone in your group has specific accessibility needs, calling ahead to the Atlanta History Center can help you plan which parts of Smith Farm and the broader campus will be most comfortable.

Why Smith Farm Matters to Understanding Atlanta

Although Atlanta is now a major urban center, its history is intertwined with rural farms and the labor of enslaved people in the surrounding region. Smith Farm helps make that connection clear:

  • It shows how food, materials, and wealth that fueled growing cities were produced.
  • It highlights the human cost of slavery and how that history shaped Georgia’s development.
  • It offers Atlanta residents and visitors a place to reflect on how the city’s modern identity grew from a complex rural past.

For anyone trying to understand Atlanta beyond its skyscrapers, stadiums, and traffic, a visit to Smith Farm at the Atlanta History Center is a practical way to see where so much of that story begins—on the land, in the fields, and in the lives of people who worked them.