Agriculture

Articles

12 items

In 1953, two McLean County corn farmers broke the 100-bushels-per-acre barrier. Newell Henderson, left, of Stanford and Merle Kuehling of Arrowsmith, second from left, are seen here on March 9, 1954, at the McLean County 100 Bushel Corn Club’s annual banquet. Also shown are Phyllis Kuehling, Merle’s wife, and Farm Adviser Eugene Mosbacher, far right.

100 Bushel Club pushed corn yields in the 1950s

In this age of genetically modified crops, once unimaginable corn yields topping 200-plus bushe...

Article

Barns fast disappearing from Corn Belt countryside

One would be hard pressed to come up with a more iconic image of the Corn Belt than the old woo...

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Black farm family prominent in Bellflower Township

McLean County farmland has always had a relatively high rate of tenancy—from the earliest years...

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Donated letter window into family tragedy

Death came for John W. Puett on the afternoon of Jan. 12, 1917. The Bloomington grain dealer wa...

Article

This all-steel “utility” farm building erected near LeRoy in November 1949 speaks to the transformation of Corn Belt barns in the post-World War II years, as the iconic wood-frame “big red barn” of rural Americana gave way to the utilitarian (and far less aesthetically pleasing) machine shed.

End of horse era spurs revolution in barn design

Though it may seem hard to believe, horses remained an integral part of Corn Belt farms well in...

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Honeybees sweetened 19th century life in Central Illinois

In November 1887, a poor local honey harvest led The Pantagraph to predict scarce inventories a...

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Local tractor company never gained traction

“More from the soil, with less toil” was the promise of the Illinois Tractor Co., which for a f...

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McLean County’s first corn farmers also mound builders

It’s been nearly 200 years since the first Euro-Americans began settling would become McLean Co...

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Oxen the original ‘work horses’ of the prairie

Before the introduction of draft horses and then steam and gasoline-powered tractors, oxen prov...

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Picture postcard speaks to power of donations

As a not-for-profit institution, the McLean County Museum of History relies to a considerable e...

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through the haze there is a crumbled brick building, some fascade still stands but most of the brick building is rubble on the ground.

Portable Elevator plant closed in 1987

In the spring of 2018, Canadian agricultural equipment manufacturer Brandt Industries began ass...

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Silos sentinels of Corn Belt since late 19th century

Farm silos, an iconic symbol of the Corn Belt, have long flummoxed city and suburban folk. Frus...

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Biographies

11 items

Bakewell, Edwin

Edwin Wells Bakewell was born in Wellsburg, Brooke County, Virginia (today located in West Virg...

Biography

Brokaw, Abraham

Abraham Brokaw (he preferred to go by Abram), was born November 6, 1815 in Somerset County, New...

Biography

Dillon, Ellis

Ellis Dillon was born on March 25, 1816 in Clinton County, Ohio to Jesse and Hannah Pugh Dillon...

Biography

Funk, Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin Funk was born on October 17, 1837 to Isaac and Cassandra Funk. Benjamin was t...

Biography

Funk, Henry

Henry Funk was a career orchardist, apiarist, poultry man, and horticulturalist. Though not to ...

Biography

King, Mary Reed

Mary (Reed) King (1842-1928) and Samuel Noble (1834-1913) were a force in the advancement of ag...

Biography

King, Samuel Noble

Samuel Noble (1834-1913) and Mary (Reed) King (1842-1928) were a force in the advancement of ag...

Biography

Read, Roland

Roland Spencer Read was born in Bloomington, Illinois, on May 26, 1895. He was one of three son...

Biography

Scott, Julia Green

Julia Green Scott was born to privilege and distinguished ancestry on February 14, 1839 in Danv...

Biography

Vrooman, Carl

Carl was born in Macon County, Missouri on October 25, 1872. He was the son of Judge Hiram Perk...

Biography

Vrooman, Julia Scott

Carl was born in Macon County, Missouri on October 25, 1872. He was the son of Judge Hiram Perk...

Biography

Blog

28 items

4-H Lamb Show June 27, 1951

In late June 1951, the McLean County 4-H market lamb show was held at the Producers Stock Yards...

Blog Post

An apple (or bushel) a day … Lilly Orchard, October 1950

In the first half of the 20th century Lilly Orchard, located some sixteen miles west of the Twi...

Blog Post

Bloomington Fire Station No. 2 214 W. Washington St., c. 1883

The south side of the 200 block of West Washington Street is seen here about 1883. That’s the t...

Blog Post

Chopping and Blowing Hay Brown Estate, June 1941

Farmers have always been innovators willing to try out new methods and adapt new technologies. ...

Blog Post

Corn Belt Harvest September 1939

In the 76 years since these photographs were taken the Corn Belt countryside has undergone an a...

Blog Post

Corn farming in McLean County … 800 years ago!

Area farmer Nuel Downs, a lifelong collector of Native American relics, is shown here in mid-Ju...

Blog Post

Farm Progress Show Comes to McLean County September 1994

It was arguably the single largest event ever staged in McLean County history. Despite the canc...

Blog Post

Frank Simpson’s Steers Farmer City, July 1957

Ralph G. Blue (right) and Harold Davis (with clipboard) weigh steers using a scale box. They’re...

Blog Post

Freitag children, rural Stanford February 1959

Jane and Doug Freitag horse around with a canine friend at their family farm outside of Stanfor...

Blog Post

Grand Champion Gilt McLean County Fair, Aug. 6, 1958

That’s a proud Walter Gottschalk of Danvers at the 1958 McLean County 4-H Club Fair. He’s posin...

Blog Post

Grand Champion Poland China ISNU Farm, January 16, 1947

Thelma Thomas and her brother Glenn examine her grand champion gilt at the Illinois State Norma...

Blog Post

Heyworth Area Good Neighbors November 6, 1950

A Corn Belt harvest time tradition involves farmers helping fellow farmers in need. Sixty-six y...

Blog Post

Improvements Slated for Danvers, 1936

In June 1936, the Danvers Farmers Elevator Association announced plans to upgrade its facilitie...

Blog Post

James Moberly Farm Funks Grove Township, May 1936

This photograph was one in a series featured in the May 23, 1936 Pantagraph under the headline ...

Blog Post

John Thomas’ new corn crib June 1958

Construction of a corn crib nears completion at the John C. Thomas farm southeast of Bloomingto...

Blog Post

McHistory: The 100 Bushel Corn Club boosted mid-century ag yields

Blog Post

McLean County Fairgrounds, 1956

Who remembers the old fairgrounds off Veterans Parkway? Back in 1955, the McLean County Farm Bu...

Blog Post

Nation’s Best Corn Huskers November 1939

Into the 1940s, corn was picked not by machine but by hand. Local, state, and national corn hus...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 11: Corn Planting, May 1937

This scene shows an unidentified area farmer still making use of an old horse-drawn, two-row pl...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 129: Reserve Champions Illinois State Fair, August 17, 1949

The Illinois State Fair gets underway today in Springfield and runs through Sunday, August 23. ...

Blog Post

Randolph from On High Undated Aerial

Central Illinois is dotted with the tiniest of communities that owe their existence to the rail...

Blog Post

Society Horse Show Fans Field, Bloomington, 1953

Fans Field, an old minor league ballpark once located on Bloomington’s south side, off Main Str...

Blog Post

Top hog gets pie January 1947

A.V. Ritchie of Colfax received $225 (or about $2,500 in today’s dollars) for this gilt at a Ja...

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Tot Tries Tiny Tractor August 1947

Three-year-old Janet Schultze gets comfortable on her father Floyd Schultze’s two-cylinder, nin...

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WW II Rubber Shortage Shirley Farm, March 1942

Arnold Beatty (left) and Colman Hicks, at the O.V. Douglass farm outside of Shirley, demonstrat...

Blog Post

Whoa dude! ‘Hemp for Victory,’ 1942

In late November 1942, during World War II, farm advisers and agriculture officials from Centra...

Blog Post

Willard and Joel Yordy Heyworth Township, August 1938

Farmer Joel Yordy (right) and his son Willard pose in front of a smartly trimmed Osage orange h...

Blog Post

‘Golden Gleam’ Grabs Trophy Society Horse Show, Bloomington, 1953

This photo was from the June 20-21, 1953, horse show, held at Fans Field, an old minor league b...

Blog Post

Events

1 item

Lacto-Fermentation 101: DIY Kimchi with the University of Illinois Extension -REGISTRATION CLOSED!

Using cabbage grown in the Museum's "Seeds of History" Victory Garden at the Wes...

Event

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

13 items

1853 to 1899: Feeding and Breeding Livestock

As McLean County farms grew in size, so too did the farmers' ability to raise livestock fo...

Digital Exhibit

1946 to 2000: Corn and Soybean Crops

After WWII many McLean County farmers reduced or totally eliminated livestock production in ord...

Digital Exhibit

Erosion

Intensified farming and the use of tractors caused wind and water erosion, but area farmers did...

Digital Exhibit

Farm Improvements

Farm improvements, such as fences, barns, sheds, and grain storage were expensive additions. Bu...

Digital Exhibit

Farm Wives

Many farmers were successful because of the support and assistance they received from their ded...

Digital Exhibit

Frontier Resources

The rich prairie soil was not the frontier farmer's first choice — the dense root systems ...

Digital Exhibit

Government Aid and Programs

The U.S. government first provided loans and incentive programs to farmers for farm land and eq...

Digital Exhibit

Hand Tools and Mechanization

Whether by their own resources, bank loans, or later government programs, a farmer’s success a...

Digital Exhibit

Home Bureau

Clara Brian's work as McLean County’s Home Bureau advisor (1918 to 1945) dramatically impr...

Digital Exhibit

Marketing Our Crops

Illinois farm leaders looked to Europe and other parts of the world after WWII in order to expa...

Digital Exhibit

New Technology: Bigger Equipment

As yields increased and technology improved, the equipment McLean County farmers used to transp...

Digital Exhibit

New Technology: Computers

In the 1970s, area farmers began to use computer technology to improve yields and profits....

Digital Exhibit

Newspapers and Magazines

McLean County’s farmers had many resources available that enabled them to improve their farming...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

36 items

4-H Federation / McLean County Fair Collection

The 4-H Federation is an aggregate of 4-H members from clubs in McLean County, grouped into one...

Finding Aid

Almanac

Almanacs are annual publications that include information such as weather forecasts, farmers�...

Finding Aid

Barn Keepers

Barns are the most important structure on a farmstead. The earliest barns in Central Illinois w...

Finding Aid

Benjamin Farm Collection

This collection of farm management materials is from Kenneth and Paul Benjamin who farmed in Ol...

Finding Aid

Blan Collection

Born in Kentucky, William R. “Russ” Blan (1918-1977), Blan worked 22 years in warehouse divisio...

Finding Aid

Brown, Fred S.

The Brown family lived near Yuton Station, in section 14 of Dry Grove Township. S.H. Brown was ...

Finding Aid

Corn Items Collectors Association Collection

Founded in 1981 as the Corn Husking Hook and Peg Collection Association, the group soon realize...

Finding Aid

Dairies Collection

Bloomington-Normal has been home to family dairies that delivered milk to customers since the m...

Finding Aid

Douglass, Emmett

Emmett Douglass was a country school teacher in Lexington around 1900 who later farmed. His wi...

Finding Aid

Draft Horses Collection

The history of Norman horses in Normal is closely linked to the Dillon family, first known as E...

Finding Aid

Edward Miller Farm

(Gustave) Edward Miller was born at Danvers in 1886. He wed Lauraline Neal (1900-1977) in 1918 ...

Finding Aid

Ewing, N. P. Family Farm Collection

The Ewing family, headed by Nathaniel Porter Ewing (4 Oct 1812 – 24 Jun 1876) and Nancy Elmira ...

Finding Aid

Exhibit: Just Corn: The 'Amaizing' Story

The Museum exhibit, “Just Corn: The ‘Amaizing’ Story,” opened in 1997. It was curated by then-M...

Finding Aid

F.M. Hall

Francis Micajah (F.M.) Hall, later known as “Cage” Hall, was born in Todd Couty, KY, on March 2...

Finding Aid

Farmers Grain Dealers Association of Illinois Collection

In February 1903, seventeen farmers’ cooperative grain elevator companies met to form the Farme...

Finding Aid

Funk Bros Seed Company

The Funk family arrived in McLean County from Ohio in 1824. Over the years Isaac Funk acquired...

Finding Aid

Funk Family

Brothers Isaac and Absalom Funk came to Illinois via Ohio in 1824. Working together the brother...

Finding Aid

Funk, George Washington

George W. Funk was the firstborn son of the Hon. Isaac Funk, Sr. and Cassandra Sharp, founders ...

Finding Aid

Gathman Collection

Mildred Scholl Gathman (1918-2001) was born in rural Arrowsmith and lived there much of her lif...

Finding Aid

George Weldon Funk Collection

George Weldon Funk was born to a prominent family in McLean, Illinois on October 30, 1895. His ...

Finding Aid

Grain Elevators

Grain Storage Facilities play an important role in the process of agricultural production in Mc...

Finding Aid

Hartzold Family

Henry Hartzold was born about 1862 in Lancaster, PA. He moved to McLean County in 1894, becomin...

Finding Aid

Hilton and Schwoerer Farms

Guy Hilton bought a 160-acre tract next to his father’s farm in Section 11 of Dry Grove Townshi...

Finding Aid

International Harvester Farming Equipment

The International Harvester Company manufactured agricultural and construction equipment, autom...

Finding Aid

McFee, John

John McFee was a well-known farmer, who also bred Berkshire swine. He lived four miles west of ...

Finding Aid

Meadows Manufacturing Company

John Rocke had the idea to build a grain elevator to improve the slow and laborious method of s...

Finding Aid

Moon Family

The Moon family collection contains a diverse amount of material, ranging from correspondence t...

Finding Aid

O’Hara, William J.

William J. O’Hara (1896-1986) was born in the Hudson area, the son of Owen and Johanna O’Neil O...

Finding Aid

Pierson, A.V.

Arthur Van Dyke (A. V.) Pierson was born in Ohio in 1849 and his family traveled by wagon to Mc...

Finding Aid

Portable Elevator

The company was started in 1898, located at the corner of Grove and McClun streets in Bloomingt...

Finding Aid

Runge

The Runge Collection consists both of public and private materials primarily from the 1930s and...

Finding Aid

Satterfield Farm

William Franklin Satterfield, called Frank, was born on October 3, 1890 at Marion, Illinois and...

Finding Aid

See Family

Frank See was born in Virginia to Nimrod See and Margaret Sherman. He was a 34-year-old farmer ...

Finding Aid

Tyner Farm Collection

This collection contains documents relating to the Stubblefield and Tyner families as well as t...

Finding Aid

Walker, Frank Albert

In the mid-1850s, the Joseph Walker family established a farm on the northern edge of Normal. F...

Finding Aid

Wilson, Edith

Goldie Edith Peyton Wilson was a resident of Gridley, where she farmed with her husband Lyle on...

Finding Aid

Making a Home

4 items

Mississippian Artifacts and Pottery

The artifacts displayed here were excavated from the only known Mississippian village in McLean...

Digital Exhibit

Mississippian Tools

Mississippians were very resourceful, transforming stone, wood, and bone into a variety of tool...

Digital Exhibit

The Kickapoo

Seven hundred years ago the Mississippian culture faded. The descendants of the Mississippians ...

Digital Exhibit

The Mississippians

The Mississippian Tradition was one characterized by mound building, fortified towns, heavy re...

Digital Exhibit

Oral Histories

2 items

Jesus Villaneuva

Oral History

Robert and Lillian Augusta Boykin

Social clubs, Union Baptist Church, domestic, yard & railroad work, farm life & sharecr...

Oral History

Publications

5 items

Come And Get It: McDonaldization and the Disappearance of Local Food from a Central Illinois Community

At one time the residents of McLean County produced and processed most of their own food and dr...

Publication

Funk Farms, Birthplace of Commercial Hybrid Corn: A History of Hybrid Corn

Publication

Gifts to the Prairie: The Work of Pioneer Nurserymen and the Art of the Prestele Family

The Bloomington Nursery was owned and operated by Franklin Kelsey Phoenix. In 1867, it was know...

Publication

Phoenix's Plant Catalogue including Plant Novelties

Greenhouse & bedding plants in eight classes, each alphabetically arranged....

Publication

The Heart of the Cornbelt: An Illustrated History of Corn Farming in McLean County

An illustrated history of corn farming in McLean County....

Publication

Speakers Bureau

2 items

Buckle of the Corn Belt: An Illustrated Tour of McLean County and Everyone’s Favorite Grain

Speakers Bureau

Pioneer Cattle and Hog Droving

Speakers Bureau

Videos

6 items

100 Years of COUNTRY Financial: Making a Home in the Twin Cities with Bill Kemp

Video

All About Wind Turbines with Meghan Reha

Video

Buckle of the Corn Belt: An Illustrated Tour of McLean County & Everyone's Favorite Grain

Video

Lunch & Learn: A Fair to Remember - The History of McLean County Fairs

Video

Lunch & Learn: Organizing for policy change for a more just and regenerative food system

Video

Lunch & Learn: Preserving and Celebrating 100 Years with COUNTRY Financial

Video