RHS in Action

Maple Syrup Family Day - March 25, 2023- test 2

Neither snow nor wind nor cold could keep many hardy folks from venturing to the Richfield Historical/Nature Park to enjoy Maple Syrup Family Day. The pancake breakfast pavilion was filled with hungry people; others visited the Sugar Shack and Blacksmith Shop; the Log Buildings and nearby activities enlightened visitors about days long ago; the people mover carried attendees to the north end of the Park to visit the Mill, Mill House and Welcome Center. Take a peek at the day's activities -- Click Here

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Richfield Historical Society on YouTube

The Society now has a presence on YouTube. Currently there are 5 videos for your enjoyment. Click on the Mill photo below to access the RHS YouTube channel.

Once you are on YouTube, you can Subscribe to the RHS channel by clicking the Subscribe button. Also, it would be great if you would Like videos and Share them.  If you want to receive Notifications of new videos on your mobile device, you can do that by downloading the YouTube app and then control the notifications through Setttings

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Handicap Ramp Rebuilt

The talented volunteer Thursday crew has been busy rebuilding the handicap ramp for the Lillicrapp Welcome Center.

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Visit the Richfield Historical Park Virtually

A great video has been made of the Richfield Historical Park featuring all of the buildings and the RHS events held in the Park. Click here to enjoy!!

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Weekly Highlights

Something About Richfield

Hubertus Public School – District Number 4 -- This school was built on Hubertus Road on land purchased from John M. Hennes in 1869. The first teacher was Lizzie Dombroski. At age 18 and just out of high school, she taught the basic 3 R’s sometimes to students who were older than she. Her monthly salary was $30, and she lived with her family on the south side of Bark Lake. Most children walked to school and water had to be obtained from the farm across the road.

Another teacher was Clara Ebling who taught at this school from 1920-1921. She, too, was right out of high school. She graduated from Hartford High School as valedictorian so was given a test by the County Superintendent’s Office. She passed the test and was given the job at the Hubertus School.

Some other teachers were: Eleanor Hayes: 1904-05; William Eimermann: 1911-1913; Aurelia Stuesser: 1913-14; Walter Ebling: 1914-17; Lena Kreuser (Lofy): 1918-1920.

This school closed in 1923 because of small enrollment. Despite closing in 1923, it continued to operate as a school district and held annual meetings. The children of the district were transported to Richfield School by Ben Dickel. In the 1930s, District Number 4 was dissolved.

This old building continued to be used as a polling place and for Scout meetings. In the 1960s, the interior was remodeled to include a fieldstone fireplace with the work being done by Nobert Weyer. After the Scouts no longer used it, it was used for storage. It was taken down in 1992.

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Something About the Park

It’s cold; the wind drives down the back of your neck. Your hands are ungloved to take the ears of corn from the husk. Opening the stiff, outer husks that protect the corn kernels further roughen chapped, cold hands. There are still several acres to “pull” before evening descends. But the handy, pointed tool in your hand thrusts into each ear of corn and speeds the job a bit.

The routine described above was normal farm work for many generations. Until the advent of the mechanized corn picker in the late-1800s and early-1900s, corn picking was done by hand by each farmer, his family, and his friends. Men, women, and children husked acres of corn by hand. It was laborious work and roughened the picker’s hands.

Simple farm implements, husking pegs—four to six inches of wood, bone, or metal— were called different names in different areas. If a tool is an extension of the human hand, then the husking peg is an extension of the human thumbnail. The Richfield Historical Society has a corn husking peg in its Traveling Trunk. Husking pegs, husking pins, huskers, shuckers, and corn pins are some of the more common names. They were produced in different styles but all served the same function. Like all tools, a husking peg was an extension of the hand. The point, or tip, was thrust into an ear of corn (on the stalk or on the ground) and enabled a person to quickly rip the dried husk off the ear.

Some locales had husking bees. Husking bees were usually held in a barn, most often on the thrashing floor, where neighbors would gather to husk a farmer’s corn. This was a community social event that allowed boys and girls to meet in a public, chaperoned setting. Tradition stated that whoever found the ear of red corn could kiss the person of his or her choice. Sometimes, when only the men were participating in the shucking, finding a red ear was rewarded with a drink of whiskey or cider.

Where did the concept of a husking peg originate? Preliminary research with the agricultural societies of the United Kingdom and Germany (the predominant settlers of the eastern Pennsylvania region) has not revealed the use of husking pegs in those European countries. The original husking pegs were probably a Native American Indian design. Husking pegs were both manufactured and hand-made. Click Here to see how a corn husking peg is used.

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Past Features of RHS in Action