Longaberger Basket Company

Loudonville, Ohio            High 84 Low 59

After the rain last night the weather cleared up and we have had a nice day all day today.

Before we came to this RV Park we went to Newark, Ohio to see the Longaberger Basket Company’s former headquarters. It is a 7 story building built to look like a market basket. I read that in 2012 the Company owed $605,000 in back taxes and were given 2 weeks to pay or the building would be sold for back taxes. They tried unsuccessfully to find a buyer and the building now sits vacant. The inside through the glass looks very nice but the outside looks neglected.

The handles weigh 75 tons.

This is supposed to be the largest basket building in the word.

We then drove about 18 miles east to the site of the Longaberger Homestead and the present factory. They have a 20 foot high basket filled with fake apples. The basket reminded me of Cindy’s grandpa. We used to have a dish filled with large plastic apples. The apples looked very real and every time he came to visit, he would tell us that they were the biggest apples he had ever seen. We always told him they weren’t real but he always forgot and told us the same thing three or four times each visit. Anyway the apples in the giant basket, which is a real basket, are really the biggest apples I have ever seen (even though they are artificial)!

I'm in front of the apple basket to give some idea of the size.

They also have a very large gift shop filled with baskets for sale. There is also a Museum that tells about how the Company got its start. We also got to visit the original workshop which had lots of antique tools that were used to make the first baskets.

The office building may be gone but the Longaberger Basket Company is alive and doing well.

After we left the Longaberger Company we drove through 50 miles of back roads. We got to see lots of Amish farms and even saw a horse drawn trailer being loaded with wheat which was ready to harvest but the roads are so narrow, we weren’t able to stop and get a picture. We were able to stop for a few pictures of old building along the way. I guess my Utah license plates told the locals that we were just dumb tourists as a few times cars had to stop when we did because of the narrow roads with no shoulders.

 This is the first time we have seen a church falling down.

Amish lady selling quilts.

This RV Park is very tight and full with no sewer connections. We are here with Coast to Coast.

Happy Fourth of July!

Thanks for visiting.