When the Indiana State Fair kicks off this Friday, August 1, you may be looking forward to all of the food, rides, 4-H exhibits, and the livestock—but one very important piece of the state fair is the Pioneer Village on the northeast side of the fairgrounds. It’s a living, breathing museum that showcases how rural Hoosiers used to live and farm more than 100 years ago.
“We have more people come to this ‘museum’ in two weeks than most museums across the country have in the whole year,” says Gary Emsweller, Superintendent of the Pioneer Village at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center.
He tells Hoosier Ag Today that the goal is to make you feel like you’ve stepped out of a time machine and into the early 1900’s.
“All of our men who are volunteers put on their bib overalls, our women who volunteer put on their long dresses, and they learn how to adapt to the weather,” he says. “We run about 250 volunteers out of Pioneer Village and it’s one huge family. They work well together, they come from across the country to volunteer at the Indiana State Fair, so everybody has a great time and has fun with it.”
You can see those volunteers hard at work in their bib overalls using the same equipment on the farm as our rural Hoosier ancestors.
“We have a huge sawmill, and we cut about a hundred logs every year. The lumber from those logs are sold to the public, and so if somebody wants a nice piece of Hickory or a Black Walnut, we probably will have it for sale,” he says.
“We also have thrashing machines ready to go, and we’ll be thrashing wheat all through the Indiana State Fair. Those will be run by steam engines.”
Emsweller says you can also make a special stop at the Pioneer Village to check out one of their biggest attractions—their antique-style barbershop.
“You can come stay here and get your haircut and get a shave!” says Emsweller. “We even have the old barbershop pole and sign out in front of the building, so you can’t miss it. There’s even a front porch you can sit on and wait!”
The Indiana State Fair, which kicks off Friday, August 1st and runs through Sunday, August 17th. The fair will be closed on Mondays.
CLICK HERE for the Indiana State Fair Pioneer Village Facebook page.
CLICK HERE for the Pioneer Village page on the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center website.
Click BELOW to hear Hoosier Ag Today’s full conversation with Gary Emsweller, Superintendent of the Indiana State Fair’s Pioneer Village.
