County Route 47, Town Of Stockholm And Norfolk - Part 1

I often traveled County Route 47 at night while driving to and from community chorus rehearsals, so one day I decided to drive it during the day and see what I'd been missing. The road had lots of spectacular old barns, though most of them are now sitting idle:

Many of the smaller barns, however, were being used for horses:

These outbuilding held farm equipment:

A modern style barn with piles of round hay bales stored under its canopy. I wish I could keep my hay bales out of the rain:

An attractive setup for horses:

An old barn behind a traditional split rail cedar fence:

An old shed, no longer used. It appeared to me as this was once someone's house, tiny though it is:

A large and elaborate farm house, behind cedar split rail fence:

A big red barn with a couple of horses enjoying the sunshine:

A string of barns, laid out in the New England style. I was just getting started on my driving tour though, and there was still much to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Garvin Road, Town Of Bangor, New York

I was driving home one day and passed Garvin Road, so I turned onto it and brought out my camera. The first place I came to was this handsome, old style farm, complete with dual silos and farm equipment:

And the corn crib out back was filled nearly to capacity. I wondered if they might have pigs, though I didn't see, hear or smell livestock of any sort:

This old barn and silo were rundown and I suspected they hadn't been used in years:

As I drove by, I could tell I'd been right. This barn has been out of commission for a long time:

A farm house, typical of the area:

Another old barn, also apparently no longer used:

People were still farming, though this corn field had not been harvested:

I took a close look at the once proud dairy farm sign on this barn and learned that it was once called Scattered Acres:

Farm equipment and baleage, with an outbuilding almost hidden behind the trees:

Barns, silo and grain bin, apparently no longer used:

Old fields, whose barbed wire and trees indicate that they once were pastures. Maybe they still are:

A small farm beneath big trees:

Coming closer to the above farm, it seemed as if no one lived there anymore but they were still harvesting firewood:

A sugar house. This is big maple syrup country. This is where I ended my driving tour, so I put my camera away and headed for home:

Maple Ridge Road In Brasher, New York - Part 1

When Upper Ridge Road became Maple Ridge Road (see yesterday's post), I continued on in search of family farms and picturesque rural scenery. At first, however, I saw mostly suburban style homes:

But it didn't take long to enter farm country, beginning with this large field, filled with baleage and haying equipment:

A picturesque farm with a log home, red barns, silo and tractor:

A large barn, filled with hay for the winter:

It was difficult to get a good photo of these outbuildings, but I tried:

The road crossed over a small brook. With grassy fields on both sides of the brook, it was sure pretty:

This pile contained logs big enough and straight enough to possibly be saw logs instead of firewood. There are a lot of farm sawmills in the area:

Forage wagons, used for collecting chopped corn on its way to becoming silage:

Lots of farm equipment, stored along a row of trees:

Well, this wasn't very scenic, but it's the way most farms used to dispose of their trash:

This old homestead was picturesque, and I would have said no one lived there except there was a pickup truck parked in front of it, leading me to wonder:

I came to a field of Holstein calves who watched me with interest. There was still a lot more to see on Maple Ridge Road, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Upper Ridge Road In Brasher, New York

I was on my way home from the animal shelter in Massena, NY and decided to take a driving tour of a side road I saw along the way, Upper Ridge Road. At first I saw only suburban style homes, but then I came to this log home, set back among the trees:

And an old barn beside a hay field, with a boat stored close by:

This clearly had recently been farm country, though the fields and pastures were beginning to go back to woodlands:

I had to drive slowly because I was following a tractor, pulling a wagon loaded with logs for firewood. The hilly terrain meant I had to wait for a safe place to pass:

Another log home, this one with pumpkins out front:

This old farm had haying equipment stored outdoors, near the road:

A fenced pasture, filled with stones. This used to be a common sight before big equipment made it easier to move the rocks:

A whole field of baleage, hay inside plastic wrappers where it can ferment as silage:

Two very old barns, a pile of rocks and some rusty equipment:

A cluster of outbuildings with a pickup truck parked nearby:

Two old barns in superb condition. I especially liked the new roof and tractor:

A traditional north country farm house, with barns out back. This was my last photo on Upper Ridge Road because it continued on as Maple Ridge Road. I'll start posting those pictures tomorrow:

Brockway Road, Town Of Bangor, New York

I saw Brockway Road on the map and decided I'd never seen it, even though I pass right by it on my way to Malone. So when I did my grocery shopping, I went to Malone instead of Massena, turning onto Brockway Road when I got to the town of Bangor:

Brockway Road was short and rural, with a number of scenic old barns (my favorite subject):

This old barn and silo appeared to be unused, and it sat so close to the road that getting it into the photo was a problem:

The other end of the above barn, with large steel tanks out front:

A picturesque farm house with tall, old trees:

A busy and productive farm with bales of haylage plus a grain bin and silos:

Multiple silos and hay bales:

Farm equipment parked for the winter along the edge of the woods:

And an old John Deere disc harrow, parked at the end of a hedgerow:

Older equipment, looking abandoned on this property:

This farm house and barn looked historic and was my last photo on Brockway Road: