Iowa museum features fun and education for families
July 20, 2011 – Cindy Ladage – Heartland Acres is a fun place to take the kids, that adults will enjoy as well. This museum in Independence, Iowa, provides hands-on displays, educational programs and new and changing displays of antique farm equipment, automobiles from the past and livestock that visitors can see up close and personal.
This is an award-winning museum. In 2011 the Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) selected Heartland Acres as the “People’s Choice” site of the year.
Its brochure shares: “At Heartland Acres, you will find a wealth of information and hands-on fun. Our interpretive centers will lead you through the past, present and future of agriculture by means of interactive exhibits, equipment, simulators, historical displays and live farm animals.”
The museum opened in May 2007 and next May, it will celebrate its fifth anniversary. The “Barn” is comprised of 18,450 square feet and includes the livestock area as well as the exhibits such as the “Hall of Time” that begins with farming techniques used in 1830 in the Iowa Territory. The farming history shares how the early settlers worked and moves through farming techniques used today.
Visitors can spy the “glass silo” that distinguishes this beautiful museum off of Highway 20. Once inside the museum, there is a theater and array of attractions such the wooden vaneless windmill that soars from the first floor to the second floor loft where the Hall of Time is located.
Inside the “Barn” area, a car display includes a 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible, 1955 Ford Fairlane, Studebaker Roadster, Auburn, Chrysler Town & Country, Packard and even a 1917 Maxwell. The truck section offers a rare Velie truck and even an International Harvester auto buggy.
Besides the barn area, outside there is the 6,500 square-foot “Machine Shed” that houses antique tractors and as Craig Johnson, the executive director, explained, “displays the evolution to the machinery used today.”
Tractors on display include: Rumley Model H Oil Pull, Hart-Parr 28-50 steel wheels, 1928 Fordson F1485-0, Wards Twin Row, 1956 Allis Chalmers WD45 “Colt,” 1952 Massey Harris, Kincade Garden Tractor and others. There are signs, engines and other farm-related items to view as well.
One of the highlights of the machine shed until the end of 2011 is the inclusion of the Big Bud 16V747, the world’s largest farm tractor. Owned by the Williams brothers, Big Bud has 760 hp and uses a 16-cylinder Detroit Diesel engine. The tractor measures 27 feet long, 20 feet wide and 14 feet tall.
The Williams brothers’ website states: “The tires were specially made by United Tire Co. of Canada and are eight feet in diameter. When the 1,000-gallon fuel tank is full, the tractor tips the scales at over 100,000 pounds.”
Details about hours and other information may be found on the website at www.heartlandacresusa.com or by calling 319-332-0123. On the website there is also an array of interactive information that teachers and parents can share with their children, such as “Corn Knowledge” and the “Moo Milk Quiz.” Heartland Acres is located in Independence, Iowa, off Highway 20 at exit 252.
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MidCountry Media publishes Farm World newspaper. It is the largest farm newspaper in the midwest. Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.
