Highlights Archives
It's Autumn on the Farms at Old World Wisconsin
The kitchens, fields and farmyards of Old World Wisconsin will be abuzz with activity, just as they would have been on many a 19th-century Wisconsin farm in the early fall, when the outdoor museum celebrates Autumn on the Farms on two weekends this year — October 11-12 and October 18-19. Visitors can expect to see a wide array of 19th-century-style autumn chores being performed in the same time-honored ways, and with the same tools and machinery, that pioneer Wisconsin farmers employed.
With more than 30 rotating activities, visitors will be able to see and experience all aspects of rural life. They will get an up-close look at draft horse demonstrations as at least 10 teams of horses from the Jefferson County Draft Horse Association demonstrate plowing and planting, harnessing, and log skidding. A sawmilling demonstration will feature a Frick steam engine, like the one pictured above, and an edger powered by a McCormick-Deering 1020 tractor.
Other activities will include helping farmers pull up root vegetables, grating cabbage for sauerkraut, helping to make headcheese or, for brave souls, plucking the poultry or seeing how a hog is processed into many useful products. There will also be candle making, quilting, soap making, wool spinning and dyeing, the red-hot blacksmith demonstrations and much more.
Live dramatic performances of The Great Peshtigo Fire: Survivors' Stories will take place five times each day in the Peterson Wagon Shop, located in the 1870s Crossroads Village. This 20-minute play features the tales of three men whose lives were touched by the largest and deadliest fire in United States history — an inferno in northeastern Wisconsin that occurred on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire, Oct. 8, 1871, and claimed five times as many victims. Also, on Sunday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m., author Jerry Apps will be at the museum to sign copies of his many books, including his latest, Old Farm: A History.
Specific activities taking place on any of the four days of this event will change a bit from day to day. For a more complete rundown of activities and their locations, download a detailed summary of activities for the first weekend of the event (PDF 61KB) and the second weekend of the event (PDF 60KB).
- For complete details on admission, hours, a map, distances from various cities, and other information, see Old World Wisconsin's visitor information pages.
- To view a brief video on last year's Autumn on the Farms, visit YouTube.
:: Posted September 29, 2008
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