By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – The area’s rich agricultural history is on display with a new exhibit at the McLean County Museum of History.

The “Farming in the Great Corn Belt” exhibit officially opens Saturday. Former Extension adviser Don Meyer compiled most of the displays. He insisted on having a display to show how much of McLean County has been devoted to agriculture.

“You can actually scroll the screen, and you can see in 1938 or 1940 where your house was,” Meyer told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin and Patti Penn. “You can see your subdivision, and scroll back and there was the farm. You can go back in time using that interactive.”

Meyer said the exhibit shows how agriculture has changed along with the county, and also demonstrates McLean County’s influence on the agricultural world. He said well-known people such as the Funks are part of the McLean County ag history, but the regular farmer should be represented as well.

“We have the Funk’s Seeds and some other stories, amazing influence by just that one family alone,” Meyer said. “But our goal was to bring in average farmers as well as those superstars, and we’ve had a nice combination of farmers in this county over the years.”

Meyer said he could have filled the entire museum and much of the lawn with stories of McLean County’s agriculture history.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].