History Of The Wheatland Plowing Match Association

The original plowing match association was established in 1877 to sponsor an annual plowing competition, Ladies Fair and Food Tent. For the next 100 years, farmers and rural enthusiasts from miles around came to observe and participate in the competitions and enjoy delicious foods at the popular Wheatland Plowing Match.

By 1977, the corporation was established to maintain the Plowing Match Association.  Funds lay idle, but a new purpose and direction from many of its members took shape.

By 1981, a committee made up of area farmers, including members of WPMA, was formed to help solicit donations from area farming communities for what is now known as the Naperville "Riverwalk"

The "Farmers Committee" held its first fund-raising pig roast on Labor Day, September 7, 1981 at the rural Naperville Township home of Wilbert and Ruth Hageman.

After publicizing the event at the Naperville Labor Day Parade with a float featuring an Antique Walking Plow -- followed by six huge, modern farm tractors -- the Farmers Committee 1st Pig Roast attracted more than 500 guests later that day.

On September 3, 1984 the "Farmers Plaza" monument, complete with the names of the 331 area farm families and topped by the same antique walking plow featured in the 1981 parade, was dedicated at the southwest corner of Eagle Street and the Du Page River Bridge in  Naperville.

The Riverwalk became the site of the 6th Annual "Farmer's Pig Roast" event in 1986.  Although a pig roast was not held in 1987, the event was revived by the Naperville Heritage Society in 1988, and held at the Naperville Settlement through 1990.

The completed riverwalk Farmer's Committee and the original Wheatland Plowing Match Association found themselves becoming increasingly concerned about the rapidly disappearing farm land in the area.  The group soon agreed to combine their efforts, knowledge and funds to form a new organization, dedicated to the preservation of the area's rural heritage.  As a result, the "New" Wheatland Plowing Match Association was formed in 1990 to include the once exclusively rural townships of Wheatland, Du Page, Lisle, Oswego, Plainfield, and Naperville.

The New Wheatland Plowing Match Association held its first "Farmers" Pig Roast in 1991, and has continued in the tradition ever since.

WPMA readily accepts contributions from local businesses and organizations, as well as individual interested in preserving the agricultural heritage of the Naperville community.  WPMA is recognized as a 501C3 organization for charitable contributions.