Agriculture in Winnebago County

Title

Agriculture in Winnebago County

Subject

Photographs of farms and farming operations in Winnebago County.

Date

1870s-1960

Rights

Midway Village Museum

Collection Items

Log Cabin along the Road
View of a road along the edge of a field with a log cabin in the background. Possibly Blackhawk Park.

Threshing on the Orville P. Thomas Farm.
Workers on the Orville P. Thomas farm operate a threshing machine. The Thomas Farm was in Owen Township, north of Rockford.

John Thomas
John Thomas, center, with horses, barn and car built in the early 1900s. Another man is holding two horses and a boy is seated on the running board of the car.

Orville P. Thomas Family
Mr. & Mrs. Orville P. Thomas and their son John at their farmhouse in Owen Township, north of Rockford.

Nineteenth Century Farm Horses
People, possibly the farm family, are posed in front of an unidentified barn. A man and woman are seated in a buggy while another buggy holds a girl seated and boy standing. A man and a woman stand with a horse and pony.

Hay Field
A horse drawn carriage with two women is in a newly cut hay field with bundles of hay in rows.

Harvester Equipment
Men posing with teams of horses hitched to harvester reaper equipment.

Stalker Farm
Stalker farm. A man and woman are in front of the house. The house is located west of Stillman Valley, Illinois. The man and woman are probably Walter L. and Charlotte Cardine Gates Stalker.

Farm on Spring Brook Road
House and barns at the far end of Spring Brook Road on north side.

Big Four Tractor
A Big Four prairie tractor pulling equipment in a field. The Gas Traction Company, headquartered in Minneapolis, launched the Big Four tractor in 1910 and it became one of the earliest successful tractor brands. The Big Four, named for its…

Sheep in a Farm Yard
Sheep in a farm yard with farm buildings at the left and right

Farm Buildings
A bridge in winter. Farm buildings are in the background. The barn has a hay hood at the right which is a peaked extension of the gable roof. The hay hood is a feature in prairie or Western barns built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The hay hood…

Steam Tractor
Steam tractor in a ditch. The large drive wheel on the side was used with a belt to power the thresher machine that is behind the tractor. Possibly an early Rumely tractor.

Schifferer Farm
Entrance to Schifferer farm.

Farm in Winter
A farm in winter on Rural Route 3, which became Spring Creek Road circa 1923.

Breckenridge Farm
Breckenridge family farm. South east view from Mulford Road showing the new garage that was built in 1924.

Breckenridge Farm
Breckenridge family farm. North view at Spring Brook Road showing part of the garage between the house and the horse barn. The garage was built in 1924.

Threshing Bee
Threshing Bee. A steam engine is in the foreground. Horses pulled the portable steam engine to the field where it operated as the power source for the thresher. The two machines were connected with the long drive belt.

Stock Yard
Harlem, Illinois stock yards.

River View Farm
D. W. Evan's River View Farm in the snow. Located at 7515-7519 North Second Street.

The Oat Crop
D. W. Evans in his oat field. His farm was located in Harlem Township at 7515-7519 North Second Street.

Windmill
Bottom view of a windmill. Farm buildings are in the background. Writing on the back of the photograph says " Sanitorium is now located in back of the windmill - windmill gone." It is unknown if this was the Rockford Municipal Sanitarium that was at…

Cows at the Charles Larson Farm
Cows in pasture at the Charles Larson farm, Roscoe, Illinois.

Horse and colt
A horse and colt.

Threshing Season
Horse drawn threshing machine, circa 1880s. Being made of wood indicates that it is an early model of a thresher. The development of threshers was reliant on the availablity of power to run the machines. Horses pulled this machine to a field where…

The Holdridge Farm.
The Holdridge Farm in Winnebago County. William Holdridge moved his family to this farm in 1905. It covered an area from Clifford Avenue south to River Park Road; it went west from North Second Street. The Holdridges sold the farm to Fred Burr in…

The Holdridge Farm, Loves Park, Illinois
The Holdridge Farm in Winnebago County. William Holdridge moved his family to this farm in 1905. It covered an area from Clifford Avenue south to River Park Road; it went west from North Second Street. The Holdridges sold the farm to Fred Burr in…

Central Park Addition
An unidentified man is at a water hand pump at the Central Park Addition garden, Rockford, Illinois.

Farm Scene with Horses
An unidentified man and woman pose in front of a barn. Possibly the Lake family in the Bell School Road area. The man is standing near a cow. The woman stands next to an unsaddled horse. A three-horse team hitched to a wagon is positioned between…

Cattle
Unidentified man standing with a herd of cattle. Possibly Lake family farm in the Bell School Road area.

Barn and Silo
A barn and silo with crop fields in the foreground. Possibly the Lake family farm in the Bell School Road area.

John P. Manny Mower Company
John P. Manny Mower Company located on Race Street in the Rockford Water Power District. In the 1850s the John P. Manny Company manufactured the knife sections for the reapers produced by John H. Manny and the Manny Reaper. In the 1860s John P. Manny…

Harlem Township Grain Elevator.
Grain elevator at Harlem Township, Winnebago County, Illinois

Harlem Creamery
Two horse-drawn buggies sit in front of the creamery on Harlem Road in Harlem Township, Winnebago County, Illinois. One of the buggies is loaded with cream cans used to haul milk or cream from the farm to a local creamery to be made into various…

Steam Engine Powering a Thresher
Steam engine used to power a threshing machine in the field. Note the large belt at the right. This belt was attached to the thresher machine.

Farm House
An unidentified farm house possibly in Harlem Township.

Horses Grazing
Horses grazing.

Cows Grazing
Cows grazing near a river.

Horses Grazing
Horses grazing

Avery Tractor
An Avery tractor, the first internal combustion tractor used on Guilford Township roads. Photo was taken on Guilford Road east of Mulford Road. The tractor is pulling a road grader.

Rural West State Street
Aerial view of Willwood Cemetery, established in 1921 and dedicated September 24, 1923 on West State Road, which later became 7000 West State Street. It is surrounded by farms and fields.

Spring Creek Dairy Farm
Kuharske residence and Spring Creek Dairy Farm on Spring Creek Road. In 1915, the farm and home, owned by Edward and Edith Kuharske, is on Rural Route 3, which became Spring Creek Road circa 1922. Edith was the niece of Grover Cleveland (his…

Kelly Farm
Kelly Farm on East State Street near the Perryville Road intersection. In 2007 this site was occupied by Lowe's Hardware.

Delivery to the Creamery
A horse-drawn milk cart and four individuals covered with an umbrella advertising Tower Surface Cultivators. The wagon is filled with cream cans used to haul milk or cream from the farm to a local creamery to be made into various dairy products. The…

Grain Harvest
Two teams of horses pulling farming equipment across field, possibly grain harvesters. Three men and one woman are standing near the horse teams. Handwritten on back: "Lloyd's team - Billy, Barney, Billy Sunday, Dick. Luthor team - Dewey, May,…

Grain Harvest
Two women on a wagon plow pulled by two teams of horses. An unidentified man is walking beside the farm implement. The horses have a white covering that drapes over their backs and has holes for their ears. This is likely protective covering during…

Farm Scene
Farm scene with a corn crib at left, windmill in the center and a barn at right. A farm implement that is possibly a hay baler is near the barn.

Sugar Farm
Spearing Family Farm buildings. According to the donor, this was the only maple sugar producing farm in Winnebago County. The Spearing family owned the farm from 1926-1950s.

Sugar Farm
Maple sugar farm sugar shack at the Spearing Farm where sap is boiled down. According to the donor, this was the only maple sugar producing farm in Winnebago County, and the Spearing family owned the farm from 1926-1950s. The grove contains over 200…

Sugar Farm
Aerial view of East State Street and the Spearing sugar farm, six miles north west of Belvidere. According to the donor, this was the only maple sugar producing farm in Winnebago County, and the Spearing family owned the farm from 1926-1950s.
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