Local history will greet you before you enter the front doors.    A Fordson tractor, a rail motorcar, and a walking plough are stationed in front of the Museum with a lovely backdrop of flowerbeds. Agriculture and lumbering were and still are, important industries in the development of Englehart, Charlton and surrounding areas. Even before there were roads or a railway, settlers were here building homesteads and clearing their own land. Large stands of trees, some measuring up to four feet in diameter covered much of the area, and lumbering soon became a thriving industry. Cutting of ties, cedar posts, and pulpwood provided employment for many men. Your agricultural tour continues down on the lower level where there are many artifacts of local industrial heritage displayed. Industries such as dairy, carpentry, mining, agriculture, forestry, and lumbering are all well represented. Of special interest to many of our visitors, is our collection of dairy related implements. Our farming community has a strong dairy base, and consequently we have acquired a number of artifacts from local residents. Of particular interest is our collection of butter churns, milk cans and milk bottles. Many of us are familiar with, or have at least seen a butter churn. Most folks have seen the "plunger type" butter churn, but butter churn technology didn't stop there. An important advancement was the "barrel type" churn. This model as seen below, manufactured by Beatt Brothers of London consisted of a barrel mounted on a wooden cradle. The barrel could be spun freely, and had a small, built-in window that allowed the churner to keep track of how things were going. "Barrel" churns were used throughout the 1800 and 1900's. Among the many antique farm implements in our agricultural display, are a couple of interesting examples of early 1900's Corn Shellers. These hand-operated units were used for shelling or stripping the kernels from the cob. A hand crank turned the spiked disk while an ear of corn was pressed against the spikes. Shelled kernels dropped into a container, and, the empty cob was tossed aside. Our collection also includes many early horse drawn ploughs and other novel hand operated tools.