The West Virginia State Farm Museum, located four miles north of Point Pleasant, held its first Steam and Gas Show since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The show provides hobbyists the opportunity to show their treasures from bygone eras.

The Wood County Flywheelers from Parkersburg had the “Do Nothing Machine” on display. While the machine uses gas to power too many wheels, chains, and gizmos to count, its only practical output is smiles upon the faces of onlookers.

The mueseum is home to a replica of an early rural community. The museum has grown from one building and a few farm implements in 1976 into a 50-acre site featuring 31 reconstructed buildings, including four original log structures that were moved and rebuilt. Visitors may tour a one-room schoolhouse from the 1870s, a doctor’s office with period drugs and equipment, a log church, a blacksmith shop, country store, veterinary office, barbershop, a post office, carpenter shop, and a newspaper building with printing presses from 1895.

The State Farm Museum has large farm equipment, both horse-drawn and tractor-drawn. There are tractors, thrashers, and plows. There is also a Corliss steam engine. There are numerous household items, including appliances and other furnishings.

The Morgan Museum, a curiosities collection begun in Putnam County in 1905 by Sidney Morgan of Winfield was moved to the State Farm Museum. It includes a collection of stuffed birds and animals, including a two-headed calf, a golden eagle, and a Belgian draft horse. The farm includes a two-acre pond and acres of crops which are planted and harvested using 19th-century equipment and methods.

The museum is open Tuesday thru Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm.