AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - In honor of the county's 175th anniversary, the Auglaize County Historical Society organized a living exhibit showing what daily life looked like at the county's founding. Bethany Ulrick has more.
The year is 2023, except in the northwest corner of the Auglaize County Fairgrounds near the gospel tent, where it's 1848. The Auglaize County Historical Society invited historical reenactors to set up camp for the week to show visitors how the first residents of the area spent their days.
"One of the things I've been showing, especially the kids, they seem to love it, is the washing machine. It's two pans of water, one full of soapy water the other one full of clear and show them how them how to scrub on the board, run it through there, turn the hand crank, and then run it back through and turn the hand crank again," said Carl "Preacher" Ward, historical reenactor.
The encampment also includes a fully functional blacksmith workshop, which people in the olden days would have gone to for necessities like nails, cookware, and tools.
"All this metal that you see here has been made here at the camp by our blacksmiths. We take it, we'll put some decent twists in it. Such as this right here has been made out of the old brush and fire poker set that you would see by the fireplaces in houses in those days," explained Anthony Martin, apprentice blacksmith.
For all of fair week, these reenactors eat, sleep, and dress like it's the nineteenth century. Some of them have been doing this for decades, and they're happy to answer any questions people might have about anything they see at the camp.
"We don't do everything exactly the way they did or a few items may not be exactly, but it's as close to the time period in history that we can get, and so people will remember what it is that this country is built on and some of the trials that they went through just to live so that we can have the nice items that we do today," added Ward.
The Auglaize County Historical Society also has banners with more information about their various museums. If you take a selfie with one, you can email it to auglaizecounty1948@gmail.com for a shot to win $100.
