Part I - Agriculture, a supplement to the Big Rapids Pioneer Newspaper. Used with permission.



BEAN BUYERS
Beans were a major crop in earlier days of Mecosta County, as evidenced by elevators that specialized in the handling of beans in Barryton, Remus, Big Rapids and Rodney. In Rodney alone. "the bean room" on the second floor of a D. Mansfield facility employed 25 women to sort beans during the harvest season. D. Mansfield also operated a facility in Remus. Beans were such a popular crop in the Barryton area that the community's annual festival was called Barryton Bean Days. In 1938, potatoes were the number one cash crop in the county followed closely by beans.



In Big Rapids, the Lewellyn Bean Co. employed 40 women in 1916 processing beans brought to Big Rapids during the harvest season from all over this part of the state. The facility, located near the GR&I passenger facility on the east side of the river, also handled other agriculture and construction products, but the primary business was in beans. According to the 1916 progress edition of the Pioneer-Herald, the company had 28 buyers spread out from Ionia to Traverse City and from Saginaw to Pentwater, buying beans to be sent to Big Rapids.

Ivan Godbold was hired in 1911 to construct and operate the bean elevator in Rodney for D. Mansfield Co. The truck parked between the elevator and a store owned by Ed Ketchum is believed to be a Ford with chain drive and solid tires.

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