Transportation Exhibit at Museum

This morning, we attended a museum exhibit centered on early transportation. There were several carriages, tractors, and early automobiles on display outside the museum, along with an exhibit of surveying equipment and old maps inside.







The carriage in the top photo brings to mind a song from the musical, "Oklahoma" ("Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry, When I take you out in my surrey, When I take you out in my surrey, With the fringe on top").








The second photo shows a very attractive carriage in red and black, with a pretty brass lamp attached to the side.







The bottom photo is of a very old tractor. I don't know the manufacture date of this interesting piece of machinery.








Inside the museum, a map dating back to 1821 was one of the first to depict the territories in which our state was included. Another map, dated 1833, show portions of 8 states (ours included), but all of none. Supposedly, this map was designed to be easily understood by folks who had no formal education, or who were self-taught.









According to an 1888 document, early surveyors in the county used rocks and trees for landmarks: "Beginning at a rock situated....witness tree a black oak 13 inches in diameter...thence go (to specified number of links) to rock for corner."








According to a history of road maps, map making for the general public in the U.S. is credited to the Chicago-Times Herald newspaper, which in 1895 printed a map for a race from Chicago to Waukegan. The first guidebook for drivers was published by the Automobile Club in 1900. It was very detailed, noting specific landmarks, since there were no road signs at that time. In the 1950s, oil companies distributed maps for free, but started charging for them in the 1980s. However, in the 1990s, welcome centers at states' borders began handing out free maps, which they continue to do today. Now, we can obtain routing information online, or by using GPS units.








An interesting note: in the 1840s, two-thirds of our county's taxpayers didn't own the land they worked. They were squatters, farming land that the government actually owned, but which they had what was called a "preemptive right" to buy later.









At one exhibit, visitors could browse through a 2008 Atlas to locate their own property or that of their ancestors. Another exhibit featured a tactile (Braille) map for the blind. Visitors were urged to close their eyes and trace the city's streets with their fingers until they found the location of the museum.








The transportation exhibit included events for children, too, including a petting zoo of rabbits and goats (which the three of us "kids at heart" were fascinated with, as well). The children could also participate in wagon races...they loaded little red wagons with goods, like granite ware coffee pots, tin cups and plates, pillows and the like, which they then pulled through an obstacle course to win prizes. There was also an Irish setter dog hitched to a small "surrey with a fringe on top" carriage for riding small children up and down the road. Inside the museum, kids could participate in story hours.