Every year on the first weekend after labor day is the annual Thumb Octagon Barn Fall Family Fun Days. Running for three days over that weekend, there was plenty of vintage farming fun for the whole family. I had never been to the Thumb Octagon Barn before, so this years open house was my first trip to the Octagon Barn.

Located in Tuscola county just south of Gagetown,  the Thumb Octagon barn is a fully restored barn that is one of only a few octagon barns in the whole country. The Thumb Octagon Barn was built in 1924 and stands today as a piece of Thumb agricultural history. This years Fall Family Fun Days was the 12th annual event and from what I understand this year was the biggest yet.

The barn was open for tours and I was able to get an upclose look at the craftmanship and construction of the octagon barn. Inside the Octagon Barn is a museum archiving the tools of agriculture from the early twentieth century. In addition to the main attraction of the Octagon barn, there were well over 100 vintage farm tractors and implements, music by the Eastern Michigan Music Makers playing classic favorites from the old days,  and acres of vendors showcasing a variety of goods. 

One of my favorite parts of the Thumb Octagon Barn Fall Family Fun Days was the demonstrations of how work was done on the farm back in those days. Ladies in period clothing showed just how hard laundry day was for women of the time, plus they even showed a bit of how soap and detergent was made on the farm. I also had the opprotunity to watch a sorguhm press in action, extracting the parts of sorguhm to make syrup.

I also enjoyed the collection of ingenious contraptions on display such as a less than handy steam powered log saw. I enjoyed the day at the Thumb Octagon Barn, and look forward to visiting again next year. If you have never visited the Octagon barn do yourself a favor and check out a part of Thumb history.

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