The 29th Annual John Blue Cotton Festival, held on Saturday and Sunday, drew estimated crowds of 8,000 people each day.

The festival started as a tool to educate children about life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is now a favorite event of Scotland County residents and visitors alike.

"When we first started the festival, we brought schoolchildren out," said festival committee member Jim Walker. "We didn't have nearly what we do right now. We wanted to show the children how they washed clothes, how they made soap."

Some 80 antique tractors were on the grounds, ranging from machines from the 1960s to the tractors invented by John Blue himself in the 1800s. Other old-fashioned implements on display included a grist mill and a cotton gin operated by a team of mules.

"I've enjoyed it, I was here about two years ago," said Helen Burdell of Columbus, Ga., visiting siblings in Laurinburg. "When you live in the city like I do, you don't ever see anything like this."

The festival was held at the John Blue House in Laurinburg, constructed in 1891.

For more on this story, see Tuesday's edition of the Laurinburg Exchange.