October Weekends
Sept. 30-Oct. 29 & Mon., Oct. 9
12pm-5pm | 435 Richmond Hill Rd.

Features of the Farm

Pumpkin Patch: Our pumpkin patch features pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Complete with photo-ops and fall decorations, you’re sure to experience a picture-perfect moment as you pick the perfect pumpkin to bring home (pumpkins are priced by weight).

Hayride: Take a trip around the farm in an old-fashioned, tractor-towed hayride.

Pumpkin Chucking: Have a hurl on our state-of-the-art pumpkin chucking bungee device, and see how far your pumpkin can fly ($5 for 3 chucks).

Fall Photo-Ops: Strike a pose and snap a pic. Don’t forget to tag Historic Richmond Town and share on social media using #DeckerFarm.

Pumpkin Painting: Bring your newly-picked pumpkins to the painting station to decorate.

Food: Enjoy lunch on the farm provided by our vendors, and then visit the Decker Farm Snack Wagon, sponsored by Mark’s Bake Shoppe, for fall-flavored donuts, pumpkin pie, cider and pumpkin spice coffee.

Know Before You Go

• There will be no re-entry. Please ensure that you have everything with you before entering the Farm.

• Limited parking is available on site and is not guaranteed, and additional parking is available in the surrounding residential area. Please arrive early so that you can find parking and not miss the arrival window listed on your ticket.

• Refunds & Weather: Decker Farm is open every Saturday and Sunday in October, rain or shine. No refunds will be given for inclement weather.

• Attire: Wear appropriate footwear. Heels, open toed or non-supportive footwear strongly discouraged. Historic Richmond Town will not be held responsible or liable for any injury or illness to you or anyone in your party during or as a result of your visit to our farm.

• Pets: Please leave your pets at home. Service animals recognized by the ADA are welcome.

• Photography/Videography Release: Please be advised that by entering the site for this event, you irrecoverably consent to be photographed or videotaped by an authorized Historic Richmond Town staffer. You also irrevocably consent that any recorded images and audio from this event may be reproduced in any and all media devised for promotional, advertising, educational, archival, or any other purposes in association with Historic Richmond Town.

• Other: No Smoking & No Soliciting

• Special Admissions passes (ie: Culture Pass) do not apply. Separate tickets are required to enter Decker Farm.

• PLEASE NOTE: Decker Farm does not wholesale or donate pumpkins from its patch during the month of October. All pumpkins on the farm are used to support on-site education programs and weekend farm events. Decker Farm can not collect pumpkins for compost or disposal.

History of Decker Farm

BUILT IN 1810, DECKER FARM IS NEW YORK CITY’S OLDEST, CONTINUALLY WORKING, FAMILY FARM.

Decker Farm is located at 435 Richmond Hill Road in New Springville. It contains 11 rolling acres of wide-open farm fields. It is one of Historic Richmond Town’s four sites, now preserved and maintained as a New York City landmark by Historic Richmond Town.

The farm comprises approximately 11 structures on 11 acres of land. Major structures include the farmhouse, large barn, small barn, and drive shed. Smaller outbuildings include a privy, chicken coop, smokehouse, and others. Most are on their original sites, but the smokehouse was moved to this property from another location in the 1960s.

Decker Farm (ca. 1810) remains New York City’s oldest continuously working family style farm. The first known residents on the property were Japhet Alston (1774-1842) and his wife Sara Decker Alston. Among their 12 children was Sarah who continued to reside in the house with her husband John M. Decker, from about 1832. In 1841, Japhet sold the farm to Lorenzo Dow Decker for $1250. Tax assessments suggest that L.D. Decker made substantial improvements to the farm in the decade of his occupation. It passed to his widow, Mahala Ann Decker, who continued to keep the farm active.

Census records show that in 1855, she had 2 acres of meadow, 2 acres of winter wheat, 3 acres of corn, 1 acre of potatoes, 6,000 heads of cabbage, and a small number of livestock. After Mahala remarried, her son, Caleb Van Name Decker, was owner of the farm from 1858 to 1873. Sylvanus Decker (1825-1909), a uncle of Caleb, purchased the farm in

1873, and it was during his ownership that most of the structures on the property were built. The last Decker family residents at the farm were Sylvanus’ children, Richard, Robert, and Alberta. Alberta Decker bequeathed the farm to the Staten Island Historical Society in 1955 for use as a museum farm.

The entire farm property was designated an official New York City landmark in 1967. In 2003, the Staten Island Historical Society guaranteed the farm’s continued preservation through the sale of a conservation and preservation easement to theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The Society has collaborated with new American farmers and supporting agencies to keep the land cultivated in recent years, as well as offering educational and public programming to the farm’s many annual visitors.