(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] Thanks to a perfect convergence of glacial history, ancient prairie ecosystems, and temperate climate, central Illinois became home to some of the richest, darkest soil in the world.

This fertile countryside was ideal for corn, wheat, oats, hay, and timber.

Some settlers, including Irish immigrants fleeing famine, came in search of survival.

Others came because the land offered a better future than the rocky, less forgiving farmland of New England.

Agriculture was strenuous work.

Early farmers relied on simple hand tools, a spade to turn the earth, a rake to soften the soil, and a hoe for planting and cultivating crops.

But by the mid-19th century, John Deere's steel plow and other agricultural innovations changed what was possible.

Central Illinois had early access to these new technologies thanks in large part to the Avery Manufacturing Company, a major farm machinery producer that began in Galesburg before relocating to Peoria.

The region was never just a hub for crops.

Many farmers also raised livestock, with cows, pigs, and chickens helping feed growing markets across the country.

By 1900, much of central Illinois life was still rooted in farms and rural communities.

Agriculture was king, a tradition that carries on to this day.

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