The Wessels Living History Farm, the Story of Agricultural Innovation

Welcome to the Wessels Living History Farm

Dancing 'til the Wee Hours

Over 150 people came out to the Wessels Living History Farm on Saturday, May 31, to dance the night away. They arrived early to listen to the music of the Kramer Sisters Band, eat BBQ beef and hot dogs from Sautterbaum Catering, hop on the hay rack ride, tour the exhibit building and the house, and watch a video podcast of what barn dances were like in the 1920s and 30s. Square dances were the order of the night and the last dancers didn't leave until after midnight.

Every year, there are well over 225 antique tractor in the US. At each show – including the Wessels Living History Farm's Tractor Engine & Auto Show – seemingly sane men and women bring out tractors that they have spent untold hours and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars restoring. In this new video podcast, we ask, What about tractor shows drives men to the brink of madness? You'll find this and many other video podcasts on our Media Resources Page.

Upcoming Events at the Farm

The Wessels Living History Farm south of York, Nebraska, has a full slate of educational and family fun events planned for this year. From the silly to the historical, you'll find something of interest at the Farm site, 5520 South Lincoln Ave., York – just south of Interstate 80 and US Highway 81. Admission for most events will be $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for students with pre-schoolers getting in free. Here is the schedule for the summer:

June-July - Summer School Classes. Education coordinator Dale Clark has scheduled a host of classes with area colleges and schools that bring students out to the farm to learn how to use historic artifacts in education.
July 20 - Model A Road-E-O. The Wessels Farm will host a special event for owners of Model A Ford cars from the turn of the last century.
October 4 & 5 - Wessels Tractor, Engine & Auto Show. For the third year in a row, the Farm is hosting its tractor show. The show has attracted an increasing number of vintage tractors, stationary engines and fascinating tools. We have a slide show of last year's event here.
October 26 - Boo at the Barn. One of the most popular events this last year was this Halloween extravaganza. You can see a slide show of last year's event here.
December 6-21 - Christmas on the Farm. The annual Christmas Open House will be presented during most of December. School and community groups, along with individuals and families have found this evocation of an historic Christmas compelling. Here is a slide show of one school visit last year.

You can also see a full circle view of whole farmstead as it nears completion in the summer of 2007. Please note that this is a large file and may take a while to download.

Time lapse movie of planting corn and the growing season through the end of July. This year, we have been recording a sequence of still photos of one section of the corn field south of the Wessels Living History Farm barn. This first movie takes you through the discing, planting, germination and growth of the corn.

Recognized! This Wessels Living History Farm web site was recognized as one of the "one of the best online resources for education in the humanities" by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In December, a panel of reviewers voted to include this site on EDSITEment, a gateway to the highest quality humanities-related educational content on the Internet. We have more about this honor here. This recognition prompted the Omaha World Herald to say we are "A Virtual Must-See." In addition, we continue to receive messages from folks across the country who are using the content and learner resources we offer. We've got excerpts from some of these e-mails here. It's heartening to know that the material we're working hard to provide is being used and appreciated – by almost 800,000 of you in 2005. Thanks!

Featured Movies and Slide Shows

On the Media Resources page, we have a new set of Video Podcasts with former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser about rural themes, along with a new podcast about the history of the Omaha Stock Yards.
A 1920s threshing day when neighbors gather to bring in the wheat harvest.
A modern corn harvest, presented here in a 30-second time lapse movie.
What does it take to build a center pivot irrigation system?

(6/10/2008)

The 1920s section of this site was developed by the Interactive Media Unit of Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. The 1930s, 1940s and 1950s-60s sections were developed by The Ganzel Group Communications of Lincoln, Nebraska.

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Looking for the Living History Farms in Urbandale Iowa?
Click here. [http://www.lhf.org]