By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
When I first began reviewing listings from the National Register of Historic Places and marking them as places to photograph, I was pretty selective. After I marked what I thought would interest us, I passed the list to Joann to review and see if there was anything else I should mark. And when she returned the list with things I had missed, she had marked some things called Granges, or Grange Halls.
The Grange, formally known as the Patrons of Husbandry, was founded in 1867 by Oliver H. Kelley, who was an employee of the Department of Agriculture. Its purpose was to assist farmers with difficulties they faced. Among the problems of the time were swarms of grasshoppers, high railroad fees to ship crops, expensive machinery, high interest and mortgage rates, high cost to store their grain in silos, and falling prices.
We’ve had the best luck finding old Grange Halls in our travels to Ohio, which seems understandable since Ohio was reported to have more than 900 chapters. Not only were the halls places to hold meetings, but they were also a place to hold social activities which included quilting bees, dances and other social gatherings, which helped to alleviate the isolation of farm families.
Some of the granges even bought a few pieces of the more expensive farming equipment that could be shared among members. Our dad was never a “granger”, as members were called, but he never owned a combine. He hired a neighboring farmer who owned one (as many farmers did) to harvest our oats. This helped the farmer making payments on his combine, and allowed dad to not have the expense of his own machine.
In 2016, we hunted up the Scioto Grange No. 1234 in Jackson County, Ohio. It was built in 1897, the same year the Chapter was organized. It’s a simple white frame building, but part of the building served as a store for members from 1907-1937. It also served as a rural school from 1917-1935. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wisconsin had approximately 50 grange chapters. The chapters in Evansville, Cooksville, Magnolia, Brooklyn, Dayton, and Center banded together to form the Evansville Mercantile Association. In February of 1874, they bought $200 worth of plows and were in business. At first, they rented space, but soon outgrew it. They built a new building, but within a couple of years, outgrew that space as well.
In 1903, they purchased land on West Main Street in Evansville and built a new store. The store was huge for its time and employed 30 people. It had a bank and departments for groceries, eggs and butter, dry goods, boots and shoes, carpets and wallpaper, jewelry, books, crockery, hardware and tin, millinery, coats and suits. Two years later an undertaking business was added and a hearse was acquired.
The Evansville Mercantile Association continued in business for 81 years, when the store was sold to another group of men who operated it until 1980.
Another old building we found in Ohio was identified as a one room school and former grange hall. Most abandoned buildings that we find don’t have available histories, and it’s true of this building. It’s big enough that it may have included a grange store as well, but we probably will never know for sure.
On our most recent trip to Ohio in 2017, we hunted up several more grange halls. One of my favorites was the Sandy Valley Grange No. 1704 shown below. It’s another on our list where we know it was a grange hall, but the last meetings I could find were held in 2012.
The Willow Grove Grange shown below, is still an active chapter holding their meetings in the building as well as providing meeting space for other organizations.
The National Grange headquarters building is in Washington, D.C. and is the only private building in a federal block across from the White House.
With the current state of farming in the country, it’s nice to know that there is still an organization trying to stand up for farmers on a national level.
If you’re walking around any town, don’t forget to look up at the symbols and name plates on buildings. You never know what you might stumble on. Let us know if you find a grange hall!
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Spring in Ohio's Amish Country
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
In our last blog post, Ruth reminisced about playing baseball when we were kids. It reminded me of an old-fashioned ball diamond we discovered in the spring of 2012 at Weaver’s Parochial School in rural Ohio. Here’s the view of the school from first base, with an old wooden backstop to the left of the school.
After having some fun on the ball diamond, we stood in front of the school, discussing the beautiful tile design on the front of the school. In lighter-colored tiles, it spelled out “Dist. 5, 1937,” so we assume this was originally a public school built in 1937.
We also discussed the pony barn located in front of the school. In the early days when most kids walked to school, there were sometimes pony barns for those kids who were lucky enough to ride a horse to school. We believe that Weaver’s School was a Mennonite school, so this pony barn could have been built by them after they took over the school.
As we stood there enjoying the rural countryside, an Amish buggy pulling a cart came around the corner and stopped near us. An Amish man got out of the buggy and began chatting with us. He told us he was having a problem with his cart and he was wondering if we would drive him quite a few miles to have a part fixed. We had a lot on our schedule for the day and were heading in the opposite direction, but we seriously considered his request. After all, we’d want someone to help us out if we were having trouble.
However, it soon became clear that he wanted us to wait with him while the part was being fixed so we could drive him back. This would have not only consumed our day but would have thrown a wrench in our whole trip schedule. So, as much as we hated to do it, we declined his request. He understood and thanked us kindly for at least considering it.
After leaving Weaver School, we explored more of the Amish areas of rural Holmes County. And one of the things we stumbled on was Millers Buggy Shop, where they sold Amish buggies and carriages.
And there’s nothing we like better than seeing teams of Amish workhorses. Since it was planting season, we didn’t have to work hard to find these teams of horses pulling the horse-drawn farm equipment to prepare the soil for planting.
This part of Ohio is filled with beautiful Amish farms and this farm was no exception. Seeing the Amish farmer driving his team along the edge of the field towards the farm on such a lovely spring day filled our hearts with joy.
Many states have areas where the Amish have settled, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin. If you’d like to take a step back in time, try driving the backroads of Amish country. It will be a respite from the fast-paced life you are probably living.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
In our last blog post, Ruth reminisced about playing baseball when we were kids. It reminded me of an old-fashioned ball diamond we discovered in the spring of 2012 at Weaver’s Parochial School in rural Ohio. Here’s the view of the school from first base, with an old wooden backstop to the left of the school.
After having some fun on the ball diamond, we stood in front of the school, discussing the beautiful tile design on the front of the school. In lighter-colored tiles, it spelled out “Dist. 5, 1937,” so we assume this was originally a public school built in 1937.
We also discussed the pony barn located in front of the school. In the early days when most kids walked to school, there were sometimes pony barns for those kids who were lucky enough to ride a horse to school. We believe that Weaver’s School was a Mennonite school, so this pony barn could have been built by them after they took over the school.
As we stood there enjoying the rural countryside, an Amish buggy pulling a cart came around the corner and stopped near us. An Amish man got out of the buggy and began chatting with us. He told us he was having a problem with his cart and he was wondering if we would drive him quite a few miles to have a part fixed. We had a lot on our schedule for the day and were heading in the opposite direction, but we seriously considered his request. After all, we’d want someone to help us out if we were having trouble.
However, it soon became clear that he wanted us to wait with him while the part was being fixed so we could drive him back. This would have not only consumed our day but would have thrown a wrench in our whole trip schedule. So, as much as we hated to do it, we declined his request. He understood and thanked us kindly for at least considering it.
After leaving Weaver School, we explored more of the Amish areas of rural Holmes County. And one of the things we stumbled on was Millers Buggy Shop, where they sold Amish buggies and carriages.
And there’s nothing we like better than seeing teams of Amish workhorses. Since it was planting season, we didn’t have to work hard to find these teams of horses pulling the horse-drawn farm equipment to prepare the soil for planting.
This part of Ohio is filled with beautiful Amish farms and this farm was no exception. Seeing the Amish farmer driving his team along the edge of the field towards the farm on such a lovely spring day filled our hearts with joy.
Many states have areas where the Amish have settled, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin. If you’d like to take a step back in time, try driving the backroads of Amish country. It will be a respite from the fast-paced life you are probably living.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Play Ball!
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
Growing up, the only sports we played were casual. We played baseball at home with our siblings, cousins, and neighbors on a makeshift field on our farm lawn. (No, we didn’t have benches and a backstop.)
Our little Catholic school didn’t have any organized sports either. It was just games with schoolmates on one of the two ball fields on the playground. One field seemed to be for the older boys, and the other was for everyone else. I don’t remember playing, but Joann does. She remembers batting one almost to the cemetery and scored a home run for her team!
I do remember being lucky enough on occasion to snag a swing on the set that faced the boys’ ball game. Sometimes, one of my classmates was allowed to play with the boys because she had all brothers, and was pretty good as a pitcher.
After we moved to our bigger farm outside of Lake Mills, there was an occasion or two when our second cousins came to visit and we walked over to a small “park” in Aztalan. There wasn’t much of anything at the park, but there was a little-used ball field. I don’t remember seeing other kids playing down there, but we did have fun the couple of times we did.
As we drive around the backroads, we are always on the lookout for old fashioned ball fields. We always worked so hard on the farm, but we managed to make a lot of happy memories. And seeing these small ballfields always makes us smile.
Several times we’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon baseball games in progress at Amish schools. We always sit and watch for a little while since we can’t point a camera at the kids. But it makes for great memories of our time out on the backroads.
Sometimes we’re not sure if the field we’ve stumbled on is still being used. Usually they’re mowed, so there might be some playing still going on. It’s really cute when these small town ballfields have dugouts for the teams.
In 2013, we were driving around rural Dane county, when we stumbled on a country ballfield called Krebs Field. It was a pretty professional-looking field. I told Joann it was the farm of a woman I had worked with and that she had a couple of boys.
In preparing to write this bog, I found an article from The Cap Times about a family farm and a real “field of dreams.” It was about the history of this farm family and how the ball field came to be.
The field started simply, but the boys were playing on little league teams and kept asking for improvements. Then they asked friends to come and practice. Then more friends came to practice and soon youth teams were practicing at Kreb’s field all summer.
In a small town near Joann’s house is a ballfield which is home of the Ashland A’s. They are members of the Home Talent Baseball League and say they play for the love of the game.
And if you look around hard enough, you might find a vintage ball team playing the game as it was played in the 1800’s. You can usually find these teams playing at open-air museums, living history villages, Civil War re-enactments and city parks. Vintage baseball is played in over 20 states. We found this sign in a county park in Indiana.
Watch the backroads for things that remind you of your childhood. It’s a great way to put a smile on your face.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Growing up, the only sports we played were casual. We played baseball at home with our siblings, cousins, and neighbors on a makeshift field on our farm lawn. (No, we didn’t have benches and a backstop.)
Our little Catholic school didn’t have any organized sports either. It was just games with schoolmates on one of the two ball fields on the playground. One field seemed to be for the older boys, and the other was for everyone else. I don’t remember playing, but Joann does. She remembers batting one almost to the cemetery and scored a home run for her team!
I do remember being lucky enough on occasion to snag a swing on the set that faced the boys’ ball game. Sometimes, one of my classmates was allowed to play with the boys because she had all brothers, and was pretty good as a pitcher.
After we moved to our bigger farm outside of Lake Mills, there was an occasion or two when our second cousins came to visit and we walked over to a small “park” in Aztalan. There wasn’t much of anything at the park, but there was a little-used ball field. I don’t remember seeing other kids playing down there, but we did have fun the couple of times we did.
As we drive around the backroads, we are always on the lookout for old fashioned ball fields. We always worked so hard on the farm, but we managed to make a lot of happy memories. And seeing these small ballfields always makes us smile.
Several times we’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon baseball games in progress at Amish schools. We always sit and watch for a little while since we can’t point a camera at the kids. But it makes for great memories of our time out on the backroads.
Sometimes we’re not sure if the field we’ve stumbled on is still being used. Usually they’re mowed, so there might be some playing still going on. It’s really cute when these small town ballfields have dugouts for the teams.
In 2013, we were driving around rural Dane county, when we stumbled on a country ballfield called Krebs Field. It was a pretty professional-looking field. I told Joann it was the farm of a woman I had worked with and that she had a couple of boys.
In preparing to write this bog, I found an article from The Cap Times about a family farm and a real “field of dreams.” It was about the history of this farm family and how the ball field came to be.
The field started simply, but the boys were playing on little league teams and kept asking for improvements. Then they asked friends to come and practice. Then more friends came to practice and soon youth teams were practicing at Kreb’s field all summer.
In a small town near Joann’s house is a ballfield which is home of the Ashland A’s. They are members of the Home Talent Baseball League and say they play for the love of the game.
And if you look around hard enough, you might find a vintage ball team playing the game as it was played in the 1800’s. You can usually find these teams playing at open-air museums, living history villages, Civil War re-enactments and city parks. Vintage baseball is played in over 20 states. We found this sign in a county park in Indiana.
Watch the backroads for things that remind you of your childhood. It’s a great way to put a smile on your face.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
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