Fine Old Homes In A North Country College Town - Part 2

I was taking a driving photo tour of some of the impressive old homes in Potsdam, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). This beauty had a matching carriage house out back:

I had to turn when I came to the lovely Grass River. Folks who live in Potsdam have access to the river all the time:

A very large old home behind big trees:

This big home had everything:

Another beauty. Have you noticed that most of these homes have fireplaces? They come with the territory:

Porches, front and back:

A large home with White Birches out front:

Green and white with porches, turrets and trees all around:

A lovely brick home with gingerbread trim:

This home was larger than it at first appeared:

Another fireplace, another carriage house, another porch (glassed in):

Comfortable chairs on the porch for summertime use:

I was on my way home and on the village outskirts when I snapped this final photo. It too was big and beautiful:

Fine Old Homes In A North Country College Town - Part 1

Potsdam, New York is a cultural and educational hub for the north country. It was first settled in 1803 and is now home to three universities - State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam, Clarkson University, and St. Lawrence University. The village also has many fine, old homes in excellent condition. I had gone to the emergency room for a TIA (turned out to not be too serious), and decided to take some photos of the nearby homes after I was released. That's part of the hospital in the background of this photo:

The houses in this part of Potsdam are lovely, and almost all have porches. This one also had a turret:

Now this home certainly has a fine porch to come home to:

As you can see, L-shaped porches are popular here:

And most of these old homes are huge:

A brick home with no porch, though it might have had one in the rear:

A lovely home behind big trees and a picket fence:

This porch had been screened in for bug-free comfort in the summertime. Notice the carriage house in the back, another common feature of many of these homes:

I didn't know what this style home wass called, but houses in this style always remind me of Winslow Homer's "American Gothic:" I looked it up and learned the house style is properly called "Carpenter Gothic:"

A green home with a gracefully curved wrap-around porch:

I thought that was a big cat on the porch, but it turned out to be a dead potted plant:

A smaller house with a porch and carriage house:

This elegant home was almost hidden behind large trees. I was just getting started on my photo tour, though, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

On The Waterfront - Waddington, New York - Part 2

I was touring the village of Waddington, NY and had turned onto Main Street, headed toward the shore of the St. Lawrence River. I passed by the H.A. Rogers Insurance Agency and a cute little shop which appeared to be out of business:

I was impressed by Main Street and its well kept buildings except that it appeared many, perhaps most, were empty:

Another commercial building which also appeared to be empty. There might have been an apartment on the second floor, judging only by the window shades:


Almost at the end of Main Street was this friendly looking pub:


Main Street ended at St. Lawrence Avenue, which ran right along the river. I turned right at this town pavilion, clearly a place for picnics and other gatherings on the river shore:

St. Lawrence Ave. was lined with historic homes, mixed with some new homes:

You can see a bit of the St. Lawrence River behind this nice brick house:

I came to the end of St. Lawrence Ave, where there was a park and open land for public use. Of course everything was ice and snow, but I could easily imagine how beautiful it would be in the summertime:

This, of course, is not my photo. It came from the internet to illustrate the bass and carp fishing tournaments which are held in Waddington during the summer:

I turned back the other direction on St. Lawrence Ave and was dreaming of life on these beautiful shores, living in these well kept homes:

The True Value Hardware, Do It Center, Lumber and Builder's Supply, also on St. Lawrence Ave., seemed to be doing a good business:

There were some impressive homes:

And all the homes were well kept and beautiful. I had more to see in Waddington, and I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

On The Waterfront - Waddington, New York - Part 1

I've wanted to go visit the village of Waddington ever since I moved here. It's right on the mighty St. Lawrence River and hosts bass and carp fishing tournaments each summer. So one day I decided I'd procrastinated long enough. I hopped into the car and drove to Waddington. I knew I was there when I saw the old fashioned water tower:

There were more homes than I'd expected - nice homes, well kept - but I was looking for the business district:

I came to a highway and there saw the impressive, stone St. Mary's Catholic church:

And more homes, of course. There seemed to be more snow than I had at home, but that may simply have been because the houses were closer together and there was less room for the plows to push the snow:

I found St. Paul's Episcopal church, another impressive stone structure:

I thought this might be a church but instead, I learned that it was the Tourist Information and Town Museum building:

There were more brick homes than I usually see around here, and I began to conclude that Waddington was an upscale residential community:

Some homes were clearly historic:

I turned down Main Street, toward the St. Lawrence shore and passed the Waddington Hepburn Library:

The John C. Moore Museum looked like it was closed, but most town museums close for the winter to save heating costs. Or maybe the museum had been moved to the big stone building I'd seen earlier:

A lovely Victorian:

This appeared to be a historic stone home with improvements and an addition:

"A Touch Of Icing" coffee shoppe and cakery. But I was just getting started and will post Part 2 tomorrow: