Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment

19th and early 20th century Ohioans lived in a time of few conveniences.  Fewer than 10 percent of the farms in the U.S. had electricity in 1935 and only 30 percent had telephones in 1950. Work was done by steam and gas engines, horses, and by hand. Candles or gas and oil lamps provided light. Clothes were made from homespun and woven cloth.  It was a time of trades and craftsman who created, in their small shops, many of the often artful necessities of daily living. A few people alive today still remember the first cars and planes, first paved roads, the advent of indoor plumbing and the ring of the blacksmith hammer. But most of us have never seen, and even fewer  know, how to cast a spoon, make a barrel or weave a basket. The Museum of Western Reserve Farms and Equipment is seeking to preserve the tools, machines, knowledge, abilities and stories of the master tradesmen and women who are no longer among us.  On our fifty-eight acres, located in Richfield, Ohio, we are collecting the equipment used by every trade typically found in a small community of 150 years ago. These include woodworking, pewter casting, candle, soap, barrel, basket, broom, wheel and harness making and more. We have, so far, collected 39 historical buildings to house the various shops including the Eastwood/Rooy slaughter house, Garman Barn, Pittenger Saw Mill, Stouffer Smoke House, Hotz Blacksmith shop, Granger Barn, Karasec Barn and Davis Barn and many more. We also have the last operating cigar factory in Ohio, a cider mill, weaving mill, ice house, bee keeping, dairy herd, chickens and turkeys, a letter press print shop and a tin shop. We are moving an average of 5 buildings a year to the farm museum. We have three more buildings to move this summer of 2011. And five to finish restoring. We are also creating 4 new gardens, including two berry gardens featuring lingon berries, blueberries, black & red and yellow raspberries, blackberries, elderberries and goose berries.