The Country Farm Museum

Vision:

Maxie Williamson’s dream of creating a historical museum for the public became a reality in 1995, with his retirement from farming and transfer to full time collector. For ten years the exhibit has increased from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet. The entity has remained a private gathering place for visitors who have reserved viewing by appointment. The museum has changed its character by opening the doors to everyone. The history-shaping development in agriculture is preserved and celebrated at the Country Farm Museum. Interactive exhibits mingle with actual Antique Tractors, Farm Implements, Antique Farm Toys, creating a unique, hands-on, climb-on and ride on experience for visitors.

History:

The Country Farm Museum began from an old barn that housed part of a forty year collection of farm antiquity. The expansion continued into a tobacco warehouse built in 1966. Maxie Williamson, the collector, built new sections beginning in 1990 that included a memorabilia room and kitchen. The dining hall was added in 1999. Growth continues today to accommodate the vast museum collection. Today, the museum site has three distinctive buildings and two open shelters. The oldest barn where the collection was first stored, dating back to 1890, is currently expanding to include a large shelter to park restored tractors. The second and largest building includes two kitchens with household objects that show how pioneers stored and cooked their food, a dining facility seating 125 people, a small room of antique toys and tobacciana, and the largest section stores pedal tractors and farm implements. The third building has a front porch decorated with memorabilia that finds its likeness from an old country store. The porch reveals how many farmers spent leisure hours. Another section is the antique tractor restoration room. This room provides a place for visitors to see the transformation and restoration process of an antique tractor. The remainder of this building is used to store the John Deere thirty series of two cylinder tractors that is one of the most prized collections of the museum.