A
few days ago I walked in to a place I haven’t visited in several years, but is
actually one of my favorite areas. It’s an old farmstead that is fairly remote
now, but must have been really isolated when it was cleared many, many years
ago.
The
farmstead is shown on an 1873 map of the township as being the residence of S.
Miller, so the land must have been cleared even earlier.
The
old histories don’t mention S. Miller, but a search of old deeds might disclose
when the land was cleared. By 1939, when the first aerial photographs were
taken, it appears that active farming had ended while rows of apple trees were
still quite obvious.
Even
then the old farmstead was surrounded by publicly-owned forest land. The northern and southern cleared areas (which may have been part of a second
farm) were added to the state forest and were planted with conifers. But, the
large central portion of the cleared area remained in private ownership. In the
1980s that land also became part of the state forest.
My
walk took me up the old road that shows on the 1873 map –
And
past an old cellar hole in a plantation of Norway spruce –
Red
squirrels live in conifer stands and are especially common in older spruce
plantations with their abundance of large cones. A red squirrel had
gathered a batch of spruce cones in the cellar hole –
Many people don’t realize that red squirrels spend a lot of time underground;
that’s demonstrated here where a red squirrel lives among the rock walls of the
old cellar and has created a pile of discarded scales from the cones it had opened to feast on the seeds inside.
Nearby
was the farm's hand-dug well whose walls are still intact after all these years –
On
to the remaining open land of the old farm and the enduring trees of what had been an orchard;
trees which have a good crop of apples this year–
The
old fields are being managed for wildlife through a cooperative arrangement between
the Bureau of Forestry, Game Commission and the Wild Turkey Federation. Replacement
apple trees have been planted, some of which are also bearing a crop of fruit –
The fields have been planted as wildlife food plots and are rotationally mowed –
Unfortunately,
wildlife sightings were scarce when I was there. A common yellowthroat protested –
As
did a house wren –
How
many generations of wrens must have protested the presence of humans in the years since this
old farm was cleared? And what must life have been like for the people that
lived on this land?
Fascinating! I love finding old homesteads like that, and recognizing the signs that tell you it was once cleared farmland, including those old air photos. Surprising that well is still intact.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place, I like that they planted the apples trees. Pretty shots of the warbler and wren! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post! The maps, that beautiful old road and the apple trees further on, the cellar hole, the information about red squirrels spending time underground, the hand-dug well, the common yellowthroat, the house wren, and.. my goodness.. the bear! Your imaginings about life as it was at the time was the icing on the cake. We feel your love for the land and its history.
ReplyDeleteYour yellowthroat and wren are awesome, but they weren't the only reason I really LOVED this post! It was fascinating to be taken back in time and told the history of this lovely land, then to go on a photographic tour. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful place to visit! Thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteThe wrens protest yes, but perhaps too much? I know they love coming by the daylight basement door in the morning, looking for stunned and dying moths who flocked to the light the night before.
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ReplyDeleteThese are great places to wander and to wonder what it must have been like years before. I love all the scenes you captured.
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