2024 Knox Horsethief Days
Schedule of Events
**Events may change without notice.
Tuesday, August 6: National Night Out will be held on Main Street this year. Always a great event! This will be sponsored by Knox PD and other local organizations.
https://natw.org/about/
Saturday, August 10: Knox Volunteer Fire Co Softball Tourney. Horse racing at the Knox Race Track (info to follow).
Sunday, August 11: Knox Volunteer Fire Co Softball Tourney/ Main St Church Service.
- Edenburg’s Masons breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
- Multi-church service on Main Street at 10:00 a.m.
- Knox Fire Hot Sausage sandwiches at the ball field
- Main Street is closed from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 14: Tractor Races-Downtown Knox on Main Street.
- Lawn Mower/Tractor races start at 6:00 p.m. on Main Street.
- Live music by the band Killing Time on the Main Street stage from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
- Food: Knox Fire Hot Sausage, Edenburg church, Mitch-Hill Dairy Farm & Creamery, & Girl Scouts…may be more.
Thursday, August 15: Lion’s Bike Race/ Power Wheels/ Foam Machine and Music – all on Main Street in Knox.
- Community yard sales – all day.
- Free Edenburg Church breakfast for seniors from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
- DJ entertainment for Kids’ Night
- Knox Lions petal bike races on Main Street, registration at 5:00 p.m./Power Wheels/Bed Races.
- Knox American Legion Riders and the Sons of the American Legion bubble machine (which was a big hit last year) follows the Power Wheel races.
- Bauer Burros & Pet Parade.
- Community Theater at Knox United Methodist Church at 7:00 p.m. “My Phony Valentine” by Brian Silvia.
- Main Street is closed from 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Friday, August 16: John Winkler Car Cruise.
- Yard sales all day.
- John Winkler Car Show from 3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. with a DJ by Moonlight on Main Street from Noon to 4:00 p.m. with Billy & The Neptunes from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Bike Night at Carriage Inn parking lot starting at 7:00 p.m.
- Live music by TRIXX at the Carriage Inn parking lot from 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
- State Street and Main Streets are closed from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 17: Jeeps/ Crafters/ Fireworks at dark.
- Vendors and crafters near the Borough building on South Main (no charge for a spot, contact Rosie at 814-227-5576) starting at 8:00 a.m.
- Knox Community yard sales – all day.
- Edenburg Presbyterian Church games all day long.
- Lion’s broom sales & raffle all day with winners being pulled at 5:00 p.m.
- 5k run hosted by Keystone Cheerleaders boosters starting at 8:00 a.m.
- Jeep gathering on Main Street around 10:00 a.m. with a scheduled ride around noon.
- Bingo at Smiles (old bank building) from Noon to 3:00 p.m.
- Route 8 Band live music on Main Street Stage from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
- Cornhole tournament at Carriage Inn parking lot (registration at 1:30 p.m., tournament starts at 2:00 p.m.)
- Recognition of Citizens of the Year around 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Fireman’s parade starts around 5:30 p.m.
- Gary Weaver Memorial Fireworks at dark (approx 9:00 p.m.)
- Streets are closed from 6:00 a.m. until after the parade.
2023 Knox Horsethief Days Highlights
Why is Knox the Horsethief Capital of the World?
Horsethief Days started back when Sebastian (Boss) Buck started stealing horses (around 1885) and changing them, so when he sold them the real owners wouldn’t discover that the horses that Boss was selling were theirs. He would sell them down South, and then there were other people who sold them in the North. Boss made a lot of money doing this, plus he really enjoyed it. He didn’t have hardly any education, but he was the planner of all the schemes and had the intelligence, power, and daring to be the leader of the horse thieves.
Stealing horses and making fake money was a vacation for him. He loved doing what he did. He didn’t care about what other people said because he would mostly do all his work at night so no one would know about what he did. He even had other members of his clan down south steal horses and bring them here. The reason it was here was that Clarion County was the headquarters or the “Horsethief Capital.”
Boss never worked alone. He never stole a horse by himself; he had other people with him. When the police found out about this, they went and got a warrant for his arrest. He went into hiding for a while, and after they gave up on him, he just came out and started stealing horses and making fake money. He was the top criminal of the United States of America. Finally, he got caught and was arrested. He straightened up in jail, and when he got out, he never stole horses again. That is how Horsethief Days started because it is in remembrance of Sebastian (Boss) Buck and all the other horse thieves. I really enjoy Horsethief Days.
Buck died in 1896 and is buried in the Franklin cemetery in Franklin.