This building was built in 1865. Here, plows were assembled, painted, labeled and stored. By 1870, the Collins Company was producing 100 plows a day.
The introduction of the tractor and gasoline powered farm equipment eventually made hand plowing obsolete. The Collins Company stopped making plows in 1930, though parts were still made. In 1924, the plow storage building was converted to a social hall, containing a reading room, luncheonette, a shooting gallery and bowling alleys.
In 1939, Collins Company employee Fred Widen started displaying his personal collection of antiques and oddities several times a year. "Fred Widen's Museum" became the forerunner of today's Canton Historical Society Museum.
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