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Entropy and history
Dec. 29th, 2016 11:10 amOn Christmas, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wakanomori took me to see a decrepit old bridge over a rail trail, and I had the fun of walking across it on the sturdy steel beam (and clutching the steel sides). He posted photos, but his account is locked, so with his permission, I'm sharing some here (i.e., these are all his photos).
From underneath:
Walking across (see the hole behind me?):
But the bridge wasn't the only thing that was falling down. We also saw disconnected utility poles, with their beautiful insulator caps still in place, and a HUGE barn (this, interestingly, being restored: it was in the process of being set in place on a new foundation), but saddest, a homestead from the 1700s, complete with a historic marker, and still owned by the original family, but falling apart:
The marker says,
Probably the family itself doesn't have the funds to restore the building, and maybe public monies aren't available. Probably there's some grant out there somewhere that could be applied for, but it would take someone willing to make that effort, and the family being willing to accept it.
Searching for more information, I found text from a tour of historic buildings in the area, which says that the land was deeded to John McCoughtry by Stephen van Rensselaer. As you may know (Bob), New York State was originally a colony of the Dutch. The van Rensselaer family were important landowners from those days.
wakanomori took me to see a decrepit old bridge over a rail trail, and I had the fun of walking across it on the sturdy steel beam (and clutching the steel sides). He posted photos, but his account is locked, so with his permission, I'm sharing some here (i.e., these are all his photos).From underneath:
Walking across (see the hole behind me?):
But the bridge wasn't the only thing that was falling down. We also saw disconnected utility poles, with their beautiful insulator caps still in place, and a HUGE barn (this, interestingly, being restored: it was in the process of being set in place on a new foundation), but saddest, a homestead from the 1700s, complete with a historic marker, and still owned by the original family, but falling apart:
The marker says,
COUGHTRY HOMESTEAD
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1774
THIS DWELLING BUILT BY
JOHN MCCOUGHTRY, JR, c 1785
ORIGINAL INTEGRITY INTACT
New Scotland
Historical Association
Probably the family itself doesn't have the funds to restore the building, and maybe public monies aren't available. Probably there's some grant out there somewhere that could be applied for, but it would take someone willing to make that effort, and the family being willing to accept it.
Searching for more information, I found text from a tour of historic buildings in the area, which says that the land was deeded to John McCoughtry by Stephen van Rensselaer. As you may know (Bob), New York State was originally a colony of the Dutch. The van Rensselaer family were important landowners from those days.
