The State Agricultural Museum

Wisconsin's agricultural development coincided with a period of great invention and innovation in farm implements, and nowhere in the state can one view a more complete collection of historic farm machinery than in the State Agricultural Museum at Stonefield. But the story of agriculture in Wisconsin begins much earlier than the era of mechanization. Native Americans were the first commercial farmers, supplying food and other necessities to early settlers until Wisconsin's lands opened for sale and general settlement in the mid-1830s. Wheat farming soon took over most Wisconsin acreage suitable for tilling, but by 1870 had depleted the soil and fallen out of favor. Dairy farming and diversified crops emerged as wheat's successor by the 1890s.

As Wisconsin agriculture evolved, so did industries associated with it, many of them headquartered in the state's industrial centers. Jerome Increase Case of Racine earned the moniker "thresher king" based on the success of his "ground hog" thresher, and Allis-Chalmers of Milwaukee became a leader in the manufacture of tractors and other implements. Fine examples of early technological innovations began to broaden the museum's collections with the Legislature's designation of Stonefield as "the state farm and craft museum" in 1953. Today the collections also include implements manufactured by one of the most famous names in American agriculture — Cyrus McCormick — from incredibly detailed miniature models to a full-size 1865 McCormick "Old Reliable" reaper and other rare pieces. The museum's extensive exhibits also include an Allis-Chalmers Model U tractor — the first rubber tire tractor produced.

The museum's dioramas and exhibits tell the whole story, from subsistence farming through the age of industrialization. Add the State Agricultural Museum to your itinerary for an unparalleled trek through the pages of Wisconsin's farm history.