Riley’s Farm operates an agritourism business, which it describes as a “living history farm,” in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, in the rural community of Oak Glen, San Bernardino County. Its varied business activities include seasonal “U-Pick” apple and other fruit picking, produce sales, pie, pastry, cider, jam and other food sales, historical and other novelty item sales, a seasonal pumpkin patch, a restaurant and tavern, dinner theater events, hosting of corporate, family and associational events, summer “day camp” activities, film and commercial location shooting, historically-themed activities such as tomahawk throwing, candle dipping and archery, and school field trips. 17.
Depending on the season, Riley’s Farm employs between 28 and 163 full- and part-time workers of diverse backgrounds, with the latter high number being reached during the spring “high season” for school field trips....
Riley’s Farm’s field trip programs include immersive presentations focused on the American Revolution, the Civil War, American colonial farm life, the California Gold Rush, and the pioneer homesteading history of Oak Glen and the San Gorgonio Pass region.
Of these presentations, the American Revolution presentation is the most popular. A large area of the Riley’s Farm premises is landscaped and themed as “Colonial Chesterfield,” portraying a New Hampshire village of the 1770s. A post-and-beam colonial tavern, orchards, a village green, stone walls, a storehouse, and a pillory furnish an authentic period environment. Students are divided into small groups (each typically accompanied by a teacher, aide or volunteer chaperone) and spend the day rotating among “stations” where “living historians” in period dress provide interactive presentations on different aspects of the history of the American Revolution and its time period.