You may be curious about the image atop each of our web pages–it is an early postcard of a Harvest Home picnic.
On the 31st of July 1876 a Harvest Home picnic was held in Haines Woods. There may have been earlier ones, but local Methodist Church records for Tabernacle listed in “Indian Mills Charge Methodist Episcopal Church 1876-1922,” begins in that year. It appears that a Harvest Home was held just about every year during this time frame and they probably continued for several more years after that. The 1876 picnic netted $22.00 for the church while the one in 1922 showed a profit of $303.28.
The location of this annual event was in Haines Woods. Today this is at the intersection of Carranza and Hawkin Roads. A modern house now sits on this site. While it is not clear when the Harvest Home picnics ended, it is certain that today’s annual Chicken Barbacue of the Historical Society is a continuation of this long standing tradition. Enjoy the older pictures below which appeared on postcards of that era.
Here are some newspaper mentions of the Harvest Home. They date back as far as 1882.
1882
1899
1906
1907
1909
1911
1912
1913
1915
1916
1918
1921
1928
1931
1932
1933
1941
1948
Tabernacle Historical Society 