History of Steam Engine Days

The morning of October 3, 1953, dawned clear and warm - a perfect day to publicly exhibit the powers of the old steam engines. Also a good day to do the threshing and have a little fun besides. Admittedly, Steam Engine Days was started on a small scale. The first of the now annual Hesper-Mabel Steam Engine Days was nothing more than a public exhibition of oldtime threshing with steam engines, but then not all good things start big.

With the coming of the gasoline engine or tractor and the modern combine, the use of steam power to "thresh" the grain was becoming a thing of the past. A love for the steam engine was very strong in a few men in the Hesper community and they felt this part of farm history should not be forgotten. Other communities were holding special days to keep this method of harvesting alive, so why not Hesper! They would at least have a small get-together.

More to Come. Check back again.