Moira-North Lawrence Road - Part 1

It was a lovely, albeit cold, morning and I had to drive to the feed store. I decided to take full advantage of the sunlight with a driving tour and headed east to Moira and then north on Mill Street. From there I turned west onto the Moira-North Lawrence Road, also known as Franklin County Route 6. My first picture was of what I thought was a stone house. But I took a closer look when I edited the photo and now think it was a brick home which may have been covered with mortar at one point:

A lovely barn in good condition, surrounded by beautiful winter scenery:

A large farm house which, I guessed, was an older home with extensive modernization. It sure looked homey:

A very large barn which was showing its age but clearly was still actively used in farming:

Another comfortable, inviting farm house:

Horse drawn farm equipment in what turned out to be an Amish farm:

The Amish farm house and barn:

This old building left me guessing. It appeared to be built out of adze-dressed logs and was likely someone's cabin way back in time. But the modern window and solid roof meant the owner was keeping it in good shape. Maybe they still used it for a summer cottage:

A large farm house behind old Sugar Maples. Icicles were hanging from the eaves:

All the comforts of modern farm life, with fuel tanks, insulated overhead doors and a wood burning furnace:

A wonderful, comfortable looking farm house with a nice front porch:

This house had the look of old New England, and I shouldn't have been surprised as this was pretty darn close to Vermont. But there was a lot of road left to see, so I kept driving. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

County Route 56 - Part 1

I turned onto County Route 56 from Connor Road in Parishville (see previous post) at this old, unoccupied log cabin:

This home had firewood but the driveway wasn't plowed. Perhaps it was someone's weekend retreat:

A large, old farm house, built of Potsdam Red Sandstone. It was unoccupied, though the farm was active:

The farm attached to the above home was active, though I couldn't tell where the family lived:

As I drove farther, I saw this wood furnace in a shed attached to the gray building. Perhaps that was the home:

I passed this old barn, now almost a pile of rubble:

And another old barn, still standing but showing its age:

A small herd of what are commonly referred to as "Black Baldies." They are popular up here and usually a cross between Black Angus and Hereford:

An interesting outbuilding with a smokestack:

And another farm house built of Potsdam Red Sandstone, this one up on a hill:

An old silo whose barn fell down or burned down long ago. But there was more to see on County Route 56, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Connor Road, Parishville New York

I was on my way home from Potsdam when I decided to turn onto Connor Road to see the sights. This vegetable stand, closed and used for storage during the winter, belongs to an Amish family:

I believe that this barn was Amish also:

The Amish home. A telltale sign is the laundry, hung to dry on the front porch. There was also a giant barn on the farm with a lot of Amish boys playing in the snow. I waved, but couldn't take a picture because I've been told that Amish people find that offensive:

A log cabin with horses:

And a larger Amish home, this one being remodeled:

Here's another view of the above home. You can see that they have begun siding it but not finished:

A large and elegant suburban style home:

Another modern home. Many folks in the north country like country life, even if they have no intention of farming:

And an even larger country home:

As I came to the end of Connor Road, I snapped a picture of this old barn. The snow was slowly sliding off the roof, remaining in a curling sheet as it gradually moved farther from the building:

At the end of Connor Road was this old log cabin. I've seen it before and thought it was occupied, but it looked to be empty this time:

The Parishville Town Museum - Part 3

On the second floor of the museum was an old fashioned bedroom, chock full of old time furniture, quilts and paintings:

I was particularly taken with this old dresser's design, which I found most ingenious. Also, notice the sun bonnet hanging on the bed's headboard:

A woman of a certain era must have looked stylish in basic black:

There was a lot to see:

There were several rooms whose photos didn't turn out well, so I'll skip those. Then I stepped out onto what seemed to me to be a sort of second floor enclosed porch. They had several dollhouses which were log cabins, the type which the first settlers lived in:

This log cabin doll house looked interesting, so I moved closer:

I took a look inside, and indeed it was a furnished log cabin doll house:

A third log cabin doll house was even more elaborately furnished. While dollhouses are not uncommon in museum displays, I've never before seen log cabin versions, much less three of them. Parishville's pioneer history of settling the wilderness is not that far in the past that folks have forgotten:

Shop tools, especially planes:

And a children's room with too many dolls to photograph:

I moved back down the stairs into the elegant foyer and living room:

I thanked the historian and made my departure, snapping a photo of the museum's exterior as I drove away:

McAuslin Road to O'Connell Road - Part 2

I was on a driving tour of McAuslin/O'Connell Road (see Part 1, yesterday's post) and it was taking me through scenes of rural beauty. This mobile home had been sided and roofed, with a front porch added:

A home with an enormous pile of firewood. This family plans to be ready in case we have another rough winter:

A pair of handsome horses:

And a logging operation. I wondered if it might be where the pile of firewood I'd just seen had come from:

A small red house and shed with a brand new, gravel driveway:

A log home with a large play-ship out back for the kids:

A forest brown home, set back in the trees:

A mobile home with lots of equipment and a wonderful, split rail fence:

It appeared that this mobile home and van were no longer being used:

And an old. abandoned farm house and barn. The barn's roof had collapsed. There was still more to see, so I'll post Part 3 tomorrow: