The land that is now Farmersville/Jackson Township Joint Park was once a national tourist attraction called the Bottle Farm. Its owner and inhabitant, Winter Zero Swartsel (also Swartzel), was an eccentric who filled his land with an eclectic mix of old bottles, bells, animal skulls and even tires. His home was crammed with oddities and items he collected during his travels.

According to local Bottle Farm historian Sherry Wallace, the house had a guest book “as large as a lectern Bible” where people signed in. Multiple historical accounts, including a scrapbook compiled by Donna Ney and Alice Hoops, say that every state was represented in the book but Delaware.

When Swartzel died in 1953, he gave the land to the community. The Village of Farmersville continued operating the site as an attraction for a few years and then decided to sell off the collection and clear the land.

In September 24, 1958, the Dayton Daily News said, “Possibly the world’s weirdest collection of paraphernalia and mishmash will go on sale here at 10 am Saturday as the Village of Farmersville disposes of the strange legacy of one its oddest citizens, Winter Zero Swartsel.”

The Bottle Farm provided a soundtrack for life in Farmersville. The bottles he hung twinkled together and multiple bells chimed in the wind. Swartsel played a record of “The Old Rugged Cross,” complete with a sour note, on loudspeakers on Sundays. He added sheep to keep the grass down and added bells to their necks.

Swartsel inherited the land for the Bottle Farm from his mother in 1907 and started adding interesting features to the land, starting with three 20-foot-high crosses that he erected in the field.

In a Dayton Daily News story from the 1930s, Swartzel and his wife were attracting attention for their oddly decorated farm.

The Bottle Farm provided fond memories and recollections for two generations of Farmersville residents, including this poem by Patricia A. Bayless Behnken in 2004. She visited the Bottle Farm as a child, around the summer of 1955, right before it was taken down.

Winter Zero Swartsel

Swartsel was a direct descendant of original settlers in Jackson Township. Relatives also settled in Preble County, and their Historical Society is at a farm donated by the family. See New Underground Railroad Exhibit in Preble County

Winter Zellar (Zero) Swartsel was born in 1876. Swartsel is quoted as saying his name came from being born on a cold winter night. An account of his life by John Charles Flory says the names come from the Winters of Dayton who operated Winters National Bank and Zeller from his grandmother, Sarah Zeller Gilbert.

According to the Ohio Historical Marker erected at Farmersville/Jackson Township Joint Park Swartsel was “a natural born showman, teacher, eccentric, anarchist, and possibly the grandfather of American Pop Culture.”

“At a young age and tired of the routines of Farmersville, he declared that, He would live by his wits while his brothers lived by the sweat of their brows. He and a friend bicycled first to New York City and then turned around to head west and eventually the world.”

Swartsel collected items from his world travels that would later decorate his cluttered home. A collection of photos and postcards from pre-war Japan and the Philippines includes this photo of water buffalo and Swartsel’s signature.

Swartsel did not have children, but he did have three women in his life. His first wife Ella died in 1935 and is buried with him at Germantown Union Cemetery. He called their home the “Love Nest” and “Mother of Love Nest” is written on her grave. Sherry Wallace said Swartsel believed a black bird he called Raven that visited his windowsill daily was the spirit of his wife.

They had a private wedding and then a “Belling” where they rode through Farmersville on a horse drawn wagon with a bell, throwing out candy, according to an account by John Flory.

After the death of his second wife, Swartsel inherited a rooming house in Dayton that he used for “short term rentals.” According to the Dayton Daily News, in 1947 he was cited by Dayton Police and the Health Department, fined, and sentenced to a workhouse for 30 days due to multiple code violations. He later appealed, was acquitted and threatened to sue the doctor who headed up the Health Department.

Swartsel closed the Bottle Farm to visitors in 1947 after he returned from a brief hospitalization to find his home vandalized. According to a story in the Dayton Daily News, in October 1948, eight Middletown schoolchildren who were allegedly trespassing were hit by shotgun pellets. In September 1947, four people were “ambushed” on the property. No charges were ever filed.

Swartsel officially reopened the Bottle Farm in 1950 by sending an anonymous invite to a Dayton Daily News reporter: “This reporter went to the weird farm in response to an unsigned written invitation sent through the mail. See Swartsel at the Bottle Farm. He is thinking of opening up soon." The reporter wrote that Swartsel did not deny writing the invite.

Swartsel’s third female companion, girlfriend Rosalie, was with him when he died. The account by John Flory says he probably died of poisoning by the girlfriend for his money. Flory states Winter asked his brother Horace to order an autopsy if he died mysteriously, but he refused. Official accounts say Swartsel died from a heart attack on Feb. 4, 1953.

Swartsel and his first wife Ella are buried at Germantown Union Cemetery. Upon his death he left $1 to each of his siblings.

Deeded to the Community

Swartsel deeded the Bottle Farm to the Ohio Historical Society who “quickly declined” according to many accounts. The land ended up in the possession of the Village of Farmersville and it was reopened to the public for a short time.

The Bottle Farm proved difficult to maintain, so the Village decided to sell the contents and use the money to create a community park, as the will stated the land should be used for the enjoyment of children.

The Dayton Daily News covered the event, noting that hundreds of people attended, many just to view the oddities. The sale yielded $12,450, around $145,000 today.

The barn and items that didn’t sell are buried on the land, in the back of the park where the shelter house and playground are today.

The park, community center, pool and ball diamonds were funded by the activities and fundraising of the Farmersville Booster Club for decades. It is now funded by a tax levy. A new levy to fund the park and the pool is on the ballot in November.

Sherry Wallace saw Swartsel sitting on his porch often and visited the farm frequently. She says she feels his spirit, “I feel his connection. I go out there, and I listen to that wind coming through those trees, and I feel his spirit, and I just love it out there.”

“Nobody else in this town ever cared enough to give so much. His only specification was that the land be used for children and families. And that's exactly what it is, and that makes me so proud. That's why I want to see it go on and on.”

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