The modern, beautifully landscaped building on the northeast corner of the Kossuth County Fairgrounds is the home of the Kossuth County Agricultural and Motorsports Museum. This facility was constructed almost a decade ago. Several individuals had the foresight to memorialize and preserve the rich agricultural and automotive motorsports history of this area.
A portion of the museum houses the Benschoter Train Station. This O-scale model train display is part of the collection of Arlen Benschoter. In addition to several working trains on numerous tracks, the display includes farm scenes, urban scenes and mountain mock-ups. This collection will rival any in the state.
Were you aware that an Algona native was a world champion auctioneer? In 1993, Dennis Prillip of Algona was recognized as the World Livestock Auctioneer Champion, at Billings, Mont. There is a display at the museum featuring Kossuth County auctioneers, which includes a video of Dennis Prillip demonstrating his auction skills.
The motorsports section of the museum includes several race cars, racing memorabilia, photographs and trophies. Among the race cars on display is a sprint car known as a Trostle car. Bob Trostle was known throughout the country during the 1960s and 1970s as an owner and builder of sprint cars. His innovative designs were copied by many other builders. The car on display was assembled locally, and resembles a sprint car owned by Jim Utt, who was a local electrical contractor for many years.
Don Heupel is president of the board of directors of the Kossuth County Ag and Motorsports Museum. Read more of his column in the March 26 Kossuth County Advance.
