Wed. Feb 12th, 2025

New motorcycle exhibit opens at Marion library

By Sydney Leyerle Jan 26, 2025

On Friday evening, the Marion Public Library opened a new exhibit created by the Indiana Motorcycle Preservation Society called Home of the Hog: Marion’s Motorcycle Legacy.

The exhibit shares the story of the Cornfield Classic race which was hosted in Marion in 1919 and 1920. It also looks at the Harley Davidson motorcycles of the time and how they came to be known as Hogs. 

During the 1920 race, the winner, Ray Weishaar, took his pet pig on a victory lap around the course. Weishaar was part of the Harley Davidson team which became known as the “Harley Hogs.”

“They started referring to Ray and the rest of his teammates as The Hogs, and then it kind of stuck for the Harley motorcycles,” Kelsey Winters, Head of Museum Services and Special Projects at the library, said. 

While the race didn’t continue after that year, Winters said the influence Marion had on the motorcycle industry still did. She said she hopes community members realize just how influential Marion was at the time.

“I think I’m hopeful that they’ll understand that Marion was a place on the map, like it was really influential and had a really far reach,” Winters said. “I mean this was a global event.”

The exhibit features a few 1920s motorcycles, a uniform and a variety of pictures from the race. Todd Armfield, an IMPS board member, said he’s excited to be able to educate the community about Marion’s history through these artifacts. 

“It’s our history as a city and a county,” Armfield said. “To bring that to light, that there was something bigger than what we are right now, and that became an international event for the county and brought in lots of revenue.”

Visitors had the opportunity on Friday night to go into the exhibit and get close to some of the artifacts. 

Ron Campbell, a visitor, said he found learning about Marion’s history interesting and hopes the younger generation will come visit the exhibit and become more involved with the museum. 

While Campbell doesn’t own his own motorcycle, he said that doesn’t stop him from wanting to learn more. 

“I always just like to go to motorcycle shows,” Campbell said. “I have a Corvette that I take around to shows and stuff, but there’s always motorcycles, and that’s what I kind of gravitate to sometimes.”

The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.