QU Brenner Library to be site of 1930s ag museum as part of Adams County Bicentennial celebration

QUINCY — Quincy University’s Brenner Library is partnering with the 1930s Ag Museum, founded by Don McKinley, to present an exhibit of the Agriculture Industry & Manufacturing in Adams County for the past 200 years.

Featured items from the Collins Plow Company, Moorman Manufacturing, Electric Wheel, Flynn Bottling Company, Chatten Orchard and more are being exhibited at Brenner Library through October 2025 as part of the Adams County Bicentennial Celebration.

The exhibit includes the Hynes Buggy, property of McKinley. Hynes came to Quincy in 1869 and organized a carriage company under the name Hynes and Moore Carriage Factory. When Moore died in 1879, the company continued under the name Hynes Carriage Company.

“It is an honor to be entrusted with these historic pieces made in Adams County,” Katie Kraushaar, dean of library and information services, said in a press release. “Don and his family have preserved a snapshot of life almost 100 years ago in the 1930s Ag Museum, which shows the incredible impact technology has on everything from eggs to combines. It is vital that we remember how far we have come from single-row, horse-drawn plows and appreciate the work that still goes into feeding the world.”

Brenner Library is on QU’s main campus, 1800 College Avenue. For more information about Brenner Library, visit https://www.quincy.edu/brenner-library/.