Founded in 1923, the Kidron Livestock Auction is the oldest in Ohio, according to its website (http://kidronauction.com/). Located in the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country in Kidron, the auction is a place where the “English” and Amish work side by side. It is operated year-round, and during the warmer months it attracts a large group of vendors outside, around the auction grounds. You can buy anything there, from produce to antique tools to cheap plastic items and shotguns.

Due to its large Amish contingent and the proximity of Lehman’s Hardware, a store specializing in non-electric appliances (and which also sells all sorts of old-fashioned gadgets such as hand-cranked grain mills), the Kidron Auction draws quite a few tourists in the spring, summer and early fall.

I spent an entire year there, off and on visiting from July 2009 until August 2010. It is a fascinating place to see and experience. Please keep in mind when looking at these pictures that it is a livestock auction, not some romantic notion of country life.