You’re less than half an hour from traveling back in time over 150 years…no time machine required! At the 480-acre George Historical Ranch, you’ll discover Texas traditions brought to life. The George Ranch Historical Park is centered around the story of the Jones family’s lineage, as passed down through the daughters. The Jones originally settled in Fort Bend County as part of Stephen F. Austin’s “Old 300.” At the 1830′s Jones Stock Farm, the 1860′s Ryon Prairie Home, the 1890′s Davis Mansion, and the 1930′s George Ranch Complex the independent spirit of early Texans inspires and delights visitors of all ages. This isn’t some dry museum where history’s behind glass. At the George Historical Ranch history lives…and you can take part!

Put your kids to work harvesting seasonal crops, weaving, grinding corn, and enjoying livestock at the 1830s Jones Stock Farm, meet Colonel Ryon in his 19th Century home, explore the 19th century Victorian Davis Mansion, watch blacksmiths at work, meet “Cookie” at the Chuck Wagon Camp, visit a Sharecropper’s Farm, a Rail Car, and Longhorn Pens, and finish at the 1930s George Ranch House complete with cowboys working cattle in the front pens, tending to cattle in the chute, and sending them to one of the few dipping vats still in existence in the United States.

“We’re not reenacting history…we’re actually living it!” says J.R. Thomas, 1830’s lead interpreter at the Park. “Interpreting history means changing the way you see the world and thinking about life through the lens of a hundred and eighty years ago!”

Go face to face with history at the Texian Market Days: Friday, October 26, 2012 (School Tour Day) Saturday, October 27, 2012 (General Public). Costumed historical interpreters and volunteers present daily life and heroic moments from the 1830s through the 1940s. Hear period music, experience an old-fashioned medicine show, enjoy a magical victorian marionette fairy tale, make a corn husk doll or your own printed copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence, play Hoops-n-Sticks, try a sample of chuck wagon cooking, and feel the modern era disappear! Everywhere you look you’ll see people bringing the past to life through gunsmithing, spinning and weaving, vintage baseball, cattle working, fan etiquette, and Texas Revolution battles. This annual fund-raising event supports the educational programs of the Fort Bend County Museum Association, including the George Ranch Historical Park and the Fort Bend Museum.

The festival is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 5-15; children 4 and younger are admitted free. Tickets are available for pre-purchase September 1st and October 15th 2012.

The George Ranch Historical Park is at 10215 FM 762 in Richmond. The park is a living history project of the Fort Bend County Museum Association and The George Foundation.

For tickets or more information, visit online at www.texianmarketdays.com or call 281-343-0218.

For more information about the George Ranch Historical Park, visit www.georgeranch.org.