291- Machinery and Engine Building

Progress and innovation brings change, often seen in machines and implements used everyday. Tractors, firefighting equipment, snowmobiles, tools, and grain cleaning systems have evolved over the years, typically in order to get the job done faster, easier, or safer. The large machinery building at Stump Lake Historical Village houses antique machinery and treasures that have been replaced with modern versions over the years. The treasures include a horse-drawn school bus, a covered wagon, and, for fans of the musical Oklahoma!, a surrey with the fringe on top.

The machinery building also houses a Claim Shanty, built around 1895. A claim shanty was to be constructed on an unclaimed piece of property and had to be lived in for five years before the land was deeded to the occupant for the bargain price of zero dollars. Donated by the Joe Zahradka family, it has been restored and furnished with period items, helping you imagine what life was like in a claim shanty that dotted many landscapes across the United States.

In 2018, a new engine building was constructed that now contains over forty stationary gas engines, many of which are still in working order. These engines, like many other obsolete tools of yesteryear, signify an important piece of history as they were used to provide power before electricity led to their demise.

The smaller machine building houses the threshing machines, known today as combines, as well as steam-powered tractors and binders for cutting and tying wheat into bundles for threshing. Antique tractors with steel cog wheels are also on display here. These machines, modern and innovative in their time, were life changing to those that depended on them for harvest and other tasks. And while these particular models have long been phased out, modern-day equipment is based on these early inventions.