Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel

Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel (HMBGV)

Location: Farmersville, OH 45325 Montgomery County
Buy Ohio State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 39° 40.674', W 84° 27.025'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 751 views
Inscription

The Bottle Farm

Side A:

A direct descendant of original settlers in Jackson Township, Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel was born in 1876. Throughout his life he was a natural born showman, teacher, eccentric, anarchist, and "possibly the grandfather of American Pop Culture." At a young age and tired of the routines of Farmersville, he declared that, "He would live by his wits while his brothers lived by the sweat of their brows." He and a friend bicycled first to New York City and then turned around to head west and eventually the world. Later his home would overflow with items collected while traveling the world. Outside was a similar story. While chiding the American people for their wastefulness and abusing their environment, his 22 acres of farmland became his artist's canvas filled with the thousands of items he collected from the "wasteful."
(Continued on other side)

Side B:

(Continued from other side)
Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel's farm property became a field of glass as he adorned it with sculptures and "art" using glassware of all kinds, bells, bed frames, wood, and other discarded items. His finest works, fashioned from bottles titled "Kindly Light" and "Full Measure" created the popular Farmersville Bottle Farm. The farm also provided interesting listening experiences. In addition to the bells and twinkling glass that rang out in the wind, residents in town could count on hearing "The Old Rugged Cross" played on loud speakers on Sundays. Bells on grazing sheep added to the "noises" he described as restful. The farm attracted visitors from every state in the nation except Delaware. Dying in 1953, Swartsel bequeathed his land to the community to become the Farmersville-Jackson Township Joint Recreation Park to be used for the pleasure of children.
Details
HM NumberHMBGV
Series This marker is part of the Ohio: Ohio Historical Society series
Tags
Marker Number15-57
Year Placed2008
Placed ByAndrew K. Bowser BSA Eagle Project Troop 409 and The Ohio Historical Society
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, October 9th, 2014 at 11:03pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16S E 718664 N 4395115
Decimal Degrees39.67790000, -84.45041667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 39° 40.674', W 84° 27.025'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds39° 40' 40.44" N, 84° 27' 1.50" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)937
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 14440 Farmersville Gratis Rd, Farmersville OH 45325, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. What historical period does the marker represent?
  2. What historical place does the marker represent?
  3. What type of marker is it?
  4. What class is the marker?
  5. What style is the marker?
  6. This marker needs at least one picture.
  7. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  8. Is the marker in the median?