The Evolution of a Tractor Club

Back in 1989, a group of local fellows who were friends and who lived in Shenandoah County, Virginia, which is predominately a rural area, decided that it would be a good idea to do something to preserve antique tractors, gasoline engines and farming equipment so that future generations could see the equipment that was used to put food on the tables in the years gone by, thus the Massanutten Antique Tractor & Gasoline Engine Club, Inc. was born.

From that humble beginning, the club grew to a membership of over one hundred and fifty at one time.  In addition to starting the club, it was decided to have an annual show in June of each year.  At those shows, among other activities, there were working displays of tractors and machinery, antique tractor pulls, barrel train rides for the youngsters and trail rides for the adults.  Those shows developed into three days of activity plus a day or two to set up the show and a day or two to clean up after the shows were over.  

Unfortunately, even though Shenandoah County is a rural area with numerous farms, our club did not attract the younger generation and as the club’s membership continued to age, it was finally decided that because of the work involved in putting on tractor shows, that venue had run its course and so after twenty-nine years, the club’s last tractor show was held.  

At that point, as the club members were trying to decide in which direction to go with the club, Mr. Tom Eshelman, who was the general manager of the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds Association at that time, approached the club with a suggestion that perhaps if we were interested, we could work with the fair association and we could put up an agricultural museum on the fairground’s property, where the majority of our past tractor shows had been held.

After several meetings and numerous conversations, the decision was made to accept Mr. Eshelman’s proposal, and we started raising money for the project.  With Tom’s help, we were steered toward several local companies and businesses that he felt might want to assist us with this project.  What started with a simple pencil sketch drawing of what the final building might look like, developed into professional blueprints done by a local drafting company by the name of Cabin Hill Drafting and that is when the project really took off.

Unfortunately, shortly after the beginning of the project, the Covid epidemic hit and things slowed down considerably, however because of the support of several of our club members and several local and non-local individuals, and also the support we got from several local companies and businesses and a few non-local companies and businesses, such as Steiner Tractor Parts, and also from several fund raisers that the club held, in the end we were able to complete the project.  It took over three years, and we had to do the project in three stages to complete it but finally at the end of 2022, we finally finished the museum.

The first stage was the footings and the concrete slab.  Stage two was the office area and inside museum area where the smaller antiques are displayed and the final stage was the area where tractors, and the various bigger implements and equipment are displayed. 

Our museum is open at any time that an event is held at the fairgrounds provided the people holding the event do not have any objections.  Our biggest event is the Shenandoah County Fair which is held for a week or so at the end of August and the beginning of September.  At that time, our club members bring their tractors, and some non-members also bring tractors and an area adjacent to the museum building is set up for those tractors to be displayed.  Contributions to the museum are gladly accepted but admission is always free.

Another event we always participate in is the local Chamber of Commerce’s “AutumnFest” Festival, which is held in October of each year at the fairgrounds.  When the museum is not open, our club members attend other tractor shows, parades, events and festivals held throughout the year in the various towns around our area.

We also have a website where you can view the project from start to finish as well as pictures of the many other activities that our club participates in or has participated in over the past years.  

To view our club website, go to: massanuttenantiquetractor.com or Facebook Pagen at Massanutten Antique Tractor Club