Join us at the Will County Threshermen’s Association 61st Annual Show!

The Will County Threshermen’s Association (WCTA) is a 501(c)(3) organization serving the greater Will County, Illinois area. Members of WCTA share their interest and passion for agriculture, engines, steam engines, tractors, and machinery. We welcome the public to our Annual Show to see what engines and tractors looked like many years ago, how equipment has changed, and how farming practices have modernized. Our area has a rich agricultural history, we invite you to come and share it with us! Supporting our organization through event attendance and donations enables us to continue to preserve the history of our agricultural community.

Our 2023 show features are Minneapolis-Moline and Single Cylinder Engines! Daily activities include working steam engines, steam powered sawmill, daily parade of power, tractor and machinery exhibits, fieldwork demonstrations, food and concessions, craft and flea market, antique tractor pull, garden tractor pull, kid’s activities, horse and wagon rides, Frankfort Brass Band live music, Civil War Living History exhibit, and more! *Fieldwork and tractor pulls are weather permitting. This event is rain or shine!

·        Admission is $8 per Adult and $4 per Child 11 and under daily. Cash only and there is no ATM onsite.

·        Show hours are 9AM – 5PM daily

·        Dates: July 20 – 23, 2023

·        Location: WCTA Show Grounds, Spiess Farm, 14151 W. Arsenal Rd. Manhattan, IL 60442

·        If you would like to get involved as a volunteer, sponsor or more please visit our website or email [email protected]

·        Visit our website for more information and schedules (*schedules subject to change): www.steamshow.org

·        Find us on Facebook and Instagram @WillCountyThresh

·        Craft / Vendors / Flea Market inquires: Kim [email protected]

A brief history of WCTA’s Annual Show: In August of 1963, Ray Kestel originated a yearly threshing bee on the Ed Kestel farm in Will County, Illinois. In subsequent years, the show was held at the Ray Kestel farm, three miles south of New Lenox, Illinois. On February 15, 1966, Ray called a meeting to propose that an organization be formed to support the annual show celebrating old-time agricultural methods. The forty-five men in attendance approved Ray’s plan, and the Will County Threshermen’s Association was born. Ray served as the club’s president for its first five years. The organization’s purpose is to honor and preserve America’s agricultural legacy. It is especially appropriate that Will County host such an association, to preserve a significant chapter in American history that took place here.

WCTA continues to commemorate America’s agricultural heritage by having an annual show in Will County, Illinois. Long-time friends of the organization remember that, in its early years, the show took place at the Fred Francis 4-H Field in New Lenox. At the fourth annual show, twenty-five acres of oats were fed through a steam-powered thresher while plowing with oxen, horses and steam engines making history come to life. By the 1970’s, the show had grown and moved to the Will County Fairgrounds in Peotone. Later, it moved to Byron’s Woods then Burns Woods, and in 2004, on to the Dollinger Farm in Shorewood. In 2013 and 2014, the show was held at the Manhattan Round Barn Farm Park, then in 2015 to the Crawford Farm in Manhattan. In 2016 & 2017 the show moved to Charles and Jean Kestel farm in Frankfort. The association at present is holding its annual show on the Steve Spiess Farm in Manhattan, Illinois near Wilton Center.