The Ag Museum - Knox County Ohio

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The Ag Museum

Take a trip back in time and experience the heritage of Knox County Ohio at the Knox County Agricultural Museum. Devoted almost exclusively to farm and home lifestyles of the 1800s and early 1900s, the Museum houses more than 5,000 items, each depicting how our forefathers (and mothers) lived and worked. The Agricultural Museum is believed to be the only one of its kind in Ohio.

While it is difficult to imagine how the early settlers lived, we have been able to capture the flavor of life over the past 200 years with the assembly of tools and household items used by our parents, grand parents and great-grand parents.

The Knox County Agricultural Museum
Location: Knox County Fair Grounds, Mount Vernon OH
Floor Space: nearly 20,000 square feet
Collection: Over 5,000 items

Collection Highlights:

The Ag museum houses many items common to the agricultural development of this county. Most of our collection has been donated by local residence and farmers, some of the items have been in their families for generations. Click on links below for photos.

The Loom Room:

About one-third of the upper floor of the 1997 addition houses the Loom Room made up of several workable looms, operated by a number of our members. They weave table placemats, throw rugs, runners and other Items. The woven items are available at reasonable donation rates and the proceeds go to the general upkeep of the museum. Weaving is demonstrated during museum tours and each day of the fair. The weavers meet weekly.

In addition, several outbuildings adjoin the main museum structure and its two wings. They hold additional items, and illustrate turn-of-the-Century everyday life and education. They include a log house, a one-room schoolhouse, a smoke house, a spring house, the Hiawatha Building, and an out house. The log house was home to the Calvin Lepley family and was originally built on Hazel Dell Road near Gambier in 1881. The Tiger Valley School was a one-room schoolhouse located in eastern Knox County.

Ag News:

- The Ag Museum is usually open for 7 days during the Knox County Fair.

- 2024 Fair will be held Sunday, July 22, to Saturday July 27.

Contact Information:

Location:
125 Fairgrounds Road
Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 171
Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050

Hours of Operation:
Usually during Fair Week.
Loom Room open most Thursdays 10:00am thru 2:00pm. Otherwise by appointment and special occasions. (see Ag News).

Phone: 740-398-4437
Email: theagmuseum@gmail.com

The smoke house contains simulated pork cuts to show how they were preserved. The spring house was used for storing food and shows what early familes used for water systems. The Hiawatha Building once served as a house for wild animals and is the last remaining building of the Lake Hiawatha Park.


Log House	One Room School	Spring House and Well

Lifestyle photos: We will occasionally post a photo depicting life style in old Knox County. Do you have vintage photos that you would like to share? We encourage residents to scan their old photos and email them to us. We may feature it in future updates of this site. The photo below of her relatives was submitted by Nancy Pennington, located on Howard-Danville road. Thank You Nancy -- great photo.

Help us ID this Item, we will occasionally post a photo of an item that we cannot identify. The photo below is one of the items. Obviously some kind of cutter. Right side cuts on both sides into notch in left side. If you know what it is, please send us an email (theagmuseum@gmail.com) with the details. We will give that person credit, if desired.