Beautiful West Stockholm, NY - Part 3

I was touring the tiny hamlet of West Stockholm, NY (see also parts 1 and 2, posted previously). I turned around on Hatch Road and returned to County Route 57, where I turned right (south) onto the one lane bridge over the icy St. Regis River:

At the end of the bridge was this giant old house, much larger than it appears in this photo, dominating the main intersection in town. The size of the place and the two huge front windows hinted that it may once have been an inn and/or a country store. Remember this building, for we will return to it:

I continued south on County Route 57, stopping to snap photos as I went:

This classic old farm house appeared to have had a number of additions over the years:

And a colorful, comfortable, country style home with Christmas decorations:

A very old home, set back from the road a bit:

I turned around on County Route 57 and returned to the main intersection, turning right (east) onto Livingston Road at the big building I'd seen earlier. As I said then, it was much larger than it appeared from the front:

West Stockholm, tiny as it is, has its own Post Office - and it's a darn busy one:

A colorful house which also had extra-large front windows. Was it once a country store?

A former (or current?) farm house with a nice front porch:

I couldn't fit all of this historic, rambling farm house into one picture:

An elegant brick home:

I sure remembered this home from my 2013 driving tour. I was as impressed then as I was this time. What a beautiful place to live, both the buildings and the location:

Another family farm, pretty enough to be a calendar page:

I stopped to photograph this maple sap collection setup, all ready for spring. The lines fed into that small building. My driving tour ended abruptly here because my camera got so cold that the battery stopped working. So I put the camera in my pocket and continued on home:

Beautiful West Stockholm, NY - Part 2

I was touring the tiny, woodsy hamlet of West Stockholm, NY (see also Part 1, posted yesterday), and came across this tiny building which seemed to be half buried in snow. Was it once a house? It looked like it, but was so small it may have been a summer cottage. It appeared to now be unused:

An old barn with a large front window:

Another bungalow, this one with an addition to give it livable space. It appeared to be occupied and was certainly well kept:

This home looked as if it might have originally been a barn. The two front doors may have indicated that it is now a duplex:

A classic farm house with a small barn out back and a wonderful wrap-around porch:

I was still on County Route 57, but turned right onto Hatch Road just before the one lane bridge over the St.Regis River. That's the "center of town" just across the bridge:

I drove west on Hatch Road but stopped to photograph this magnificent, historic home. The original part of the house was built of Potsdam Red Sandstone:

An elegant brick home, with a carriage house out back:

I continued on Hatch Road as it became more rural:

Another historic home, part Potsdam Red Sandstone and part brick:

A farm house and barns, set back behind the trees and pretty enough to be a picture postcard:

A front view of the above farm house:

These two tiny buildings sat far off the road and I had to use my zoom lens to photograph them. Were they summer cottages, livestock sheds or something else? I suppose I'll never know, but they appeared to be on the banks of the St. Regis River:

Closer to the road was this building, apparently a former barn, converted to a home or apartment. But there was still much more to see in West Stockholm, and I'll post Part 3 tomorrow:

Beautiful West Stockholm, NY - Part 1

It was brutally cold, about 0 F (-18 C), as well as cloudy and snowing lightly, but I nevertheless decided to return to the picturesque hamlet of West Stockholm, NY. There isn't much to it, but I remembered it as particularly pretty:

Here's the Google Earth View, which you can reference if you would like to trace my driving route during these three posts:

I drove in from the north on County Route 57, also called W.Stockholm-Southville Road, stopping and snapping photos as I went along:

West Stockholm is mostly forested, but there are still barns and farm fields which indicate that nearly everyone here once farmed in order to eat:

An old barn, to which a modern garage had been added:

A house in the woods, still decorated for Christmas:

This appeared to be a more modern house, but I was especially taken with the front porch and the thought of living in such a pleasant community:

All the snow made these Christmas decorations seem right at home:

There was a sizeable cemetery, evidence that West Stockholm may once have been more populated than it is now. Being located just east of Potsdam NY, it may also have been on the stage coach route:


This was only a small portion of the cemetery:

Many of the homes were farm style and may indeed have been farm houses when they were built:

There was a New England style church in the center of town, but I didn't see what denomination it was:

I remembered this place from my driving tour in 2013. It was a former school house, then for sale as a duplex. Apparently it was sold and the new owners had begun painting it when winter hit:

The most popular style of farm house in the area. But there was much more to see in West Stockholm, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Exploring Heath Road - Part 2

I'd begun my driving tour of Heath Road in the town of Potsdam and traveled into the town of Stockholm, New York. This beautiful and colorful house and barns must have been near the town line:

There were herds of cattle:

And woods filled with maple trees with traditional sap buckets attached:

A classic farm home with American flag:

The road became decidedly narrower and I passed by this roadside barn with twin silos:

A house and garage with roof of cardinal red:

A very large farm with lots of farm equipment parked outside:

The melting snow had left water everywhere:

This farm had a cluster of old barns:

And a lovely old farm house:

As I neared the end of Heath Road, I passed by this woodsy home set back in the trees:

And then there was only woodland. I turned onto Hatch Road (a likely subject for future blog posts) and into the picturesque settlement of West Stockholm. My driving tour was over, so I put my camera away and continued on to Massena where I had some shopping to do: