Just a quick post. Recently Kim and I joined the Pekin Historical Society in order to help further preserve our hometown's past and secure it's future with firm footing in the steps of our forefathers in this small Indiana town. The more research we do the more we see just how important that agriculture was in our small town and what type of contribution it truly made to our economy. Now days Pekin is a very depressed economy, but there was a time in days gone by, when a family could gain a firm economic foothold by way of agricultural production.
In the coming "Agricultural History and Future" posts throughout 2009 I will detail some of the diverse agronomic history of my small town and Washington County as a whole. I will also cover some other topics concerning the history of my family, particularly our history in agriculture in Green and Clay Counties in Kentucky, we will also cover more of the history of those two areas, two places which we also call "home".
A few interesting topics we will cover will include the orchard which once graced the fields of our farm here in Pekin Indiana, The Cotton Mill and cotton industry based on the neighboring farmland and also on one of the many forks of Blue River at the heart of town, the importance of the Monon Railroad system to our town, lumber industry, mills, hatcheries, and breweries. I will also touch base on our claim to fame "The Longest Consecutive Fourth of July Celebration in the United States."
For Now I'd just like to post a couple of images of some packing crates from the infamous Borden-Pekin Fruit Growers Association, at one time the largest packing point of berries in Indiana. In the future expect many pictures of our agricultural past as the Historical Society has an endless library of wonderful pictures, one of my favorites that I will try to post at some point soon is a picture of Main Street including a large front yard garden complete with strawberries, pole beans, corn, pumpkins, watermelons and more!
2 comments:
Nice! I love them old boxes and posters. Keep em coming!
I'm an old guy scratching a little dirt down in south Texas now, but spent five great years as a young tad growing up in Salem, then probably 3,000 people. Used to ride my bike through the farmland outside town and hang out at the stores around the courthouse.
I'll be really interested at what you discover about the county's agricultural history, because it's a fond part of my childhood memories, and they could use a little historical grounding.
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