Farmersville in Montgomery County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel
The Bottle Farm
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 14, 2009
1. Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel / The Bottle Farm Marker (Side A)
Inscription.
Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel. The Bottle Farm.
Side A:. A direct descendant of original settlers in Jackson Township, Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel was born in 1876. Throughout his life he was a natural born showman, teacher, eccentric, anarchist, and “possibly the grandfather of American Pop Culture.” At a young age and tired of the routines of Farmersville, he declared that, “He would live by his wits while his brothers lived by the sweat of their brows.” He and a friend bicycled first to New York City and then turned around to head west and eventually the world. Later his home would overflow with items collected while traveling the world. Outside was a similar story. While chiding the American people for their wastefulness and abusing their environment, his 22 acres of farmland became his artist's canvas filled with the thousands of items he collected from the “wasteful.” (Continued on other side),
Side B:. (Continued from other side) Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel's farm property became a field of glass as he adorned it with sculptures and “art” using glassware of all kinds, bells, bed frames, wood, and other discarded items. His finest works, fashioned from bottles titled “Kindly Light” and “Full Measure” created the popular Farmersville Bottle Farm. The farm also provided interesting listening experiences. In addition to the bells and twinkling glass that rang out in the wind, residents in town could count on hearing “The Old Rugged Cross” played on loud speakers on Sundays. Bells on grazing sheep added to the “noises” he described as restful. The farm attracted visitors from every state in the nation except Delaware. Dying in 1953, Swartsel bequeathed his land to the community to become the Farmersville-Jackson Township Joint Recreation Park to be used for the pleasure of children.
Side A:
A direct descendant of original settlers in Jackson Township, Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel was born in 1876. Throughout his life he was a natural born showman, teacher, eccentric, anarchist, and “possibly the grandfather of American Pop Culture.” At a young age and tired of the routines of Farmersville, he declared that, “He would live by his wits while his brothers lived by the sweat of their brows.” He and a friend bicycled first to New York City and then turned around to head west and eventually the world. Later his home would overflow with items collected while traveling the world. Outside was a similar story. While chiding the American people for their wastefulness and abusing their environment, his 22 acres of farmland became his artist's canvas filled with the thousands of items he collected from the “wasteful.”
(Continued on other side)
Side B:
(Continued from other side) Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel's farm property became a field of glass as he adorned it with sculptures and “art” using glassware of all kinds, bells, bed frames, wood, and other discarded
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items. His finest works, fashioned from bottles titled “Kindly Light” and “Full Measure” created the popular Farmersville Bottle Farm. The farm also provided interesting listening experiences. In addition to the bells and twinkling glass that rang out in the wind, residents in town could count on hearing “The Old Rugged Cross” played on loud speakers on Sundays. Bells on grazing sheep added to the “noises” he described as restful. The farm attracted visitors from every state in the nation except Delaware. Dying in 1953, Swartsel bequeathed his land to the community to become the Farmersville-Jackson Township Joint Recreation Park to be used for the pleasure of children.
Erected 2008 by Andrew K. Bowser BSA Eagle Project Troop 409 and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 15-57.)
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., February 14, 2009
2. Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel The Bottle Farm Marker (Side B)
84° 27.025′ W. Marker is in Farmersville, Ohio, in Montgomery County. It is on Farmersville-Gratis Road, on the left when traveling west. Marker is in Farmersville-Jackson Township Joint Recreation Park, about 300 feet east of Swartzel Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 14440 Farmersville-Gratis Road, Farmersville OH 45325, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s Dayton Metro and in the Miami Valley. It is also in the American Midwest and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
4. Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel The Bottle Farm Marker
Looking southwest.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 2, 2019. It was originally submitted on April 1, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 3,931 times since then and 102 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 1, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
