July is a busy time for Hastings area residents, the Fourth of July parade and fireworks at the Hastings Golf Club kicks things off, the Rivertown Days put on by the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce keeps things going in the middle of the month, and The Little Log House Antique Power Show and Pioneer Village caps off the month nicely.

The Little Log House Antique Power Show is a fun, three-day event located at 21889 Michael Avenue, south of Hastings. The event is perfectly spread out over the property to not feel too crowded but still keep things close enough that you don’t mind walking to the next section.

There are craft vendors, food vendors, old cars, historical buildings, the spiral bridge one-third-scale replica, a scaled down St. Boniface Church, a small village with antique buildings and a historical shoot out recreation, old tractors, steam engines, did old tractors get mentioned? There are a lot of old, unique tractors, so many so, that there is even a parade of them around the grounds each day. There are plenty of historical sites to teach you how things were done not all that long ago such as an old power station, sawmill, and many others scattered around the property.

At the entrance, the first few buildings you see are those historical power station and sawmill buildings, but there are also nearly one hundred old engines just to the right of the entrance that need to be seen to appreciate. These machines are simply amazing to watch as they do their work powering fans and other machines used back in the early 1900’s.

As you venture further into the grounds, there are a couple of beautiful historical buildings near an even more beautiful flower garden with a water feature. That leads to the Pioneer Village and food vendors. Visitors can spend a solid hour plus here just exploring the buildings in the flower garden. This is also the start of the food vendors.

Heading further in, event goers have the option to explore a scaled down version of the Church of St. Boniface which used to reside at the corner of Sixth Street East and Ramsey Street in Hastings where the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School playground is currently, or the car show. Of course, people do see both before adventuring further.

The next stop can be Porky’s diner and the Cottage View Drive-In sign then Siwek Lumber and Millwork Museum. More historic cars plus historic farm equipment. You can also venture into the craft fair to peruse the work of dozens of vendors. There are a couple old military barracks along with military vehicles and a couple submarine models to enjoy along the spot the truck and tractor pull takes place on Saturday evening. Further out are more interactive displays of how the old machinery works, including a very interesting rock crushing exhibit at a small quarry.

The highlight of the return back is the one third scale spiral bridge where people can take a walk through the early history Hastings’ most notable bridge over the Mississippi River.

The three-day event has a variety of recreations of how work was done with these machines, music and entertainment throughout the property with the largest being the previously noted truck and tractor pull. This three-day event is the only time the grounds are open to the public. Admission for 2023 was only $12 per adult with the option of a $24 weekend pass.

The rest of the year, the grounds are available for rent for a variety of reasons, weddings and other celebrations, photography sessions and more. Visit LittleLogHouseshow.com for more details.

If you have not been to the Little Log House event the last weekend of July, add it to your calendar now for next year, you won’t regret it. As for this year, enjoy the photos!