Cows and Plows

Cows and Plows. . What was it like to live and work in a small Ohio River town in the 1800s? A walk through the Ohio County Historical Society Museum gives a view of everyday life in a 19th century Ohio River town. Residents were employed in many enterprises, including woolen cotton and flour mills, an iron foundry, a tobacco factory and the building trades. The museum building was once a plow factory, founded in 1838 by Henry Clore and passed on through his family for generations. Henry Clore was known as a skilled blacksmith in Rising Sun as early as 1830., His business had expanded by 1851, producing about 1800 plows every six months. By 1880 Clore was shipping 6,000 plows a year down the Ohio River to southern markets. At the museum you will see agricultural implements made in his factory., Other local products on display include the Auto-Harp, the grandfather of the juke box, and see “the Darby,” an early coin-operated horse racing game. Both products were invented by the local entrepreneur, J. W. Row Whitlock. Have you ever seen a two-beaded calf? You'll see it at the museum., Admire the race boats Hoosier Boy and Hoosier Girl built in the early 1900s by furniture maker, inventor and racing enthusiast, J. W. Whitlock. In 1924 Hoosier Boy set the speed record of 60 miles per hour round trip between Cincinnati and Louisville. Visit the museum to find out why no one will ever break this record., By the Way: Whitlock's company also produced the popular Skylark radio, marketed by the Crosley Company in the early decades of the twentieth century.