Farming in the late 1800s and early 1900s represents a lifestyle of hard work, inventions, prosperity and depression. This presentation focuses on a typical farmer, Joshua Secrest, who developed a successful livestock farm. It also reviews the dramatic development of ingenious farm machinery and tools that enabled growth and prosperity. Secrest built a large octagonal barn in 1883. The barn and farmstead were lost in the depression. Old farm tools are shared as part of the presentation. Some you won’t recognize.

Presenter Rich Tyler has been restoring the Secrest farmstead and octagonal barn near West Branch. He has researched the history behind the property, including the golden age of farming, the Depression and the architecture of barns. Rich is a Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery and Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of Iowa.

Refreshments to follow. The event is free and open to the public.

For questions, please contact:
Patty Rowland - 641-777-5092

The Blakesburg Historical Preservation Society has received funding from Humanities Iowa, a private, non‐profit, to host a presentation called Your Grampa and Grammas Farm by Rich Tyler. A cultural resource for Iowans since 1971, Humanities Iowa offers many cultural and historical programs and grants to Iowa’s communities.