Chapter 1: Brushton, New York

If you've been following this blog, you know that I often make driving tours of nearby northern towns and hamlets. This one to the village of Brushton began on a cloudy Sunday afternoon just after I'd arrived at the farm. I drove on Route 11 past vast farm fields toward Malone:

Brushton is a village located within the town of Moira, but seemed more densely populated and interesting than Moira. I noticed many small country houses as I entered Brushton:

Wagon wheels and a rural mailbox on a trailer to which additions had been built:

An interesting natural wood tone porch on a compact yellow home:

Red trim on a white house, with outbuildings and an old fashioned well:

A very large, rambling structure seemed almost too large for one family. You can also see the dark clouds which threatened rain as I drove into Brushton:

A rather large and impressive estate:

And then Route 11 took me into Brushton proper. The signs proclaim that you are crossing Farrington Brook, entering the Village of Brushton and must reduce your speed to 30 MPH:

I passed this extensively landscaped yard to someone's home which, according to the road sign, had once been the site of a starch factory, built in 1851 by Col. C.A. Stone and Capt. Wm. A. Tupper:

This home looked deceptively small from the front, but extensive additions on the rear had made it a large structure with extraordinary porches on both levels:

A roadside diner looked interesting so I took a closer look at its sign (see next photo):

Mary's Place offered home style cooking and was open as I drove by. Judging from the cars pulling in, Mary must have been a good cook. But Brushton turned out to be a larger place than I'd imagined, so I was just beginning my driving tour. I'll post more tomorrow: