Ben Gravely was raised in Mason County, and the factory that made the unique lawn and garden tractors operated in Dunbar for nearly 50 years.

And soon, a group of Gravely enthusiasts will return to West Virginia for their annual meeting. The Gravely Tractor Club of America will conduct the 12th annual Mow-In Oct. 4 -5 at the West Virginia Farm Museum just a few miles from Ben Gravely's farm, said Jim Cherry, registrar of the club.

"Seldom do we go to the same place twice," Cherry said. "Generally, we team up with another club. ... Usually we're with John Deere or another tractor club."

But for the Point Pleasant event, the Gravely club will be on its own, Cherry said. The Mow-In is expected to attract Gravely enthusiasts from around the country and beyond.

"Usually we have 26, 27 or 28 states represented," he said. "We have people from Canada and from France on two different occasions."

This will be the club's second Mow-In in West Virginia, said Glen Barnes, chairman of this year's event. The first one was in Dunbar in 1997.

Cherry said he expects about 500 club members to attend the event, which will feature classic Graveleys, a swap meet and a banquet. But he said it is difficult to track how many people visit the event each year.

"We're usually out in a big field," he said. "There are no entry points."

Visitors can come and go as they please, Cherry said.

So why all the fuss about a lawn and garden tractor?

"There's nothing similar to it," Cherry said. "You have the power unit and 40 or 50 attachments. ... The attachments will still fit tractors made years ago. Since the attachments are expensive -- maybe thousands of dollars -- it's nice that you can accumulate them over time."

Ben Gravely patented a one-wheeled 2.5-horsepower cultivator in 1916 but had no money to produce them until 1922, Barnes said. Gravely worked for years as a photographer in Charleston before opening his factory in Dunbar.

"It became a two-wheeled tractor in 1926," he said. "The ones produced between 1937 and 1962 were the same."

In 1962, another party obtained a majority of the company's stock, and Gravely was sidelined, Barnes said. After another ownership change, the Dunbar factory closed in 1968. The tractors were produced in North Carolina until 1992, when Ariens, the current owners, moved the factory to Wisconsin. Ariens stopped making the walk-behind tractor in 2001.

Officials in Point Pleasant are excited about hosting the Mow-In, said Denny Bellamy, executive director of the Mason County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Mow-In has filled hotel rooms in the Point Pleasant area and as far away as Hurricane, he said.

Information about the Mow-In is available at www.gravelytractorclub.com.