Carter Historic Farm

08/25/2026

We appreciate our BGSU volunteers!

08/20/2026

There are 15 federal executive departments and 21 state executive departments in Ohio. We may be biased, but the United States Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources are our favorites!

The Department of Agriculture was established by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, though the push for research, development, and education of agriculture started decades earlier. In 1923, a Bureau of Home Economics, renamed the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics during World War II, was created by the USDA to help families cook, ration, and shop for their food. One of their research projects involved women using pedometers throughout their day to design more efficient kitchens. You can read more about this on our kitchen panels in the farm house!

Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources descends from the Ohio Fish Commission, which was created in 1873 to combat declining fish populations. In 1949 the 98th General Assembly enacted Senate Bill No. 13 to combine various wildlife, resource management, and conservation agencies into one unified Department of Natural Resources. Some divisions, like those of Forestry, Wildlife, and Geological Survey remained the same, while some new ones were added, and others changed names. The Division of Coastal Management was first called the Division of Beach Erosion!

Here are some examples of informational books and pamphlets in our collections that these executive departments produced over the years, and one example from today!

08/12/2026

Thank you The Morning Show BG for the coverage on the refresh and joining us at yesterdays Board Meeting!

08/11/2026

The Loomis Community Room got an update! 👀🎊

Take a stop down at Carter Historic Farm at 18331 Carter Rd, Bowling Green, OH and step inside the house to see the refreshed exhibit! Update pictures, signage, rolling photo and video footage - and much more! ⭐✨

This space is open for tours, board meetings, community partnerships and program opportunities. Tours are conducted Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1:00 – 4:00 pm but if you have any additional questions about the Loomis Community Room or the other buildings please call for more information.

A big thank you to the Friends of the Wood County Parks for their support funding this project and all the hard work from dedicated staff on this project including our wonderful summer seasonals.

08/11/2026

✨PARTNER SPOTLIGHT✨ On Wednesday, Chase Fleece, from the Wood County Park District (Carter Historic Farm) gave the eighth instalment of the 2026 Great Depression Lecture Series.

Our next Great Depression Lecture Series event will be on September 2nd at 6PM. .

These photos are from the eighth installment in the Great Depression Lecture Series, an America 250 program. This is a Wood County Park District lead event, in partnership with the Wood County Museum.

This event series is FREE to the public!

07/15/2026

This one was a tough one! Last week’s object was an old punch needle!

These were first patented in 1886 by Ebenezer Ross of Toledo, Ohio as an alternative to rug hooking. He called his product “The Griffin”. At the time, women in farming communities made primitive rug hooks with what metal scraps and wood they could find to do the job. They made rugs for their homes using old feed sacks as canvases and fabric scraps from old clothes to create the designs. The punch needle made this process faster.

Unlike a typical needle, punch needles are hollow, and its eye sits above its tip. It’s used by “punching” the needle straight up and down through cloth held tight in a hoop. The stitches are held in place with tension. While a rug hook feeds yarn in from underneath, a punch needle feeds yarn in from the top of the canvas.

They grew in popularity at the turn of the 20th century. The rug hooking industry boomed, and by the 1930s and 1940s, everyone wanted a hand punched and hooked rug in their home. Rug studios eventually closed when rugs began to be manufactured overseas. Today they are mainly used on a smaller scale for decorative embroidery purposes.

Our punch needle came with a pamphlet from the business that includes instructions for use as well as advertisements. Here they call it a "tufting" needle. The address written is now an auto insurance shop in Chicago.

07/08/2026

What is it Wednesday!

Comment down below if you know what this is! 🤨

Next week we will share what it is, and more fun information about these items.

07/01/2026

Join Historic Farm Coordinator, Chase Fleece, tonight at the Wood County Museum for this free event! (inside in the A/C)

Free lecture at Wood County Museum to discuss challenges to New Deal
https://bgindependentmedia.org/free-lecture-at-wood-county-museum-to-discuss-challenges-to-new-deal/

07/01/2026

Art Remix, led by our Part-Time Historic Farm Interpreter Gabby Mancini, is designed to educate and allow attendees to practice their artistic ability free of pressure!

Check out our monthly programs at wcparks.org/programs

Thank you BG Independent News for the showcase!

Wood County Park District’s Art Remix Series introduces absurdity & nonsensical imagery of Dada art movement. https://bgindependentmedia.org/wood-county-park-districts-art-remix-series-introduces-absurdity-nonsensical-imagery-of-dada-art-movement/

06/26/2026

In myriad ways, the Great Depression fundamentally challenged the nation’s established institutional and political norms. For many, how to best mitigate the unprecedented economic crisis centered on scope and philosophy. However, for some, the conditions necessitated a more radical program. In the seventh installment of the Great Depression Lecture Series, we will examine the left-and right-wing challenges to the New Deal and the individuals who sought to undermine it.

This is the seventh installment in the Great Depression Lecture Series, an America 250 program. This is a Wood County Park District lead event, in partnership with the Wood County Museum.

The Great Depression Lecture Series – “The New Deal Challenged: National Political Dissent in a Changing Nation”
July 1 | 6:00PM
Speaker: Chase Fleece, Historic Farm Coordinator (Wood County Park District)
Wood County Museum Meeting Room
FREE