Could it be? Looking like a find of lifetime, or a collector’s dream, this antique-filled barn in Richfield is part of the Western Reserve Farms and Equipment Museum. The dusty display is just one of a number of historic buildings housed on a 48 acre plot.
   Witnessing a quick disappearance of old farm buildings and equipment, Jim Fry began his collection of Ohio’s rural past on his own farm. Able to add five buildings a year, the museum features plenty of new items, ranging from a cigar factory to a weaving mill.
   The museum not only preserves buildings and equipment, but the know-how of long forgotten trades. Long after cities began benefiting from uses of electricity and telephones, rural Ohioans prospered well without. Farmers and craftsmen created much of their own equipment, refined their farming processes and produced what Jim likes to refer to as "artful necessities."
   Bypassing red tape and burdening bureaucracy, Jim Fry relies on a dedicated group that’s eager to come together and save history. Here at the Stone Garden Farm, just south of Richfield, Ohio, interested volunteers relearn 19th Century skills, have fun creating art, and discover how it was done in the good old days.

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