Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Mother Lode

A box recently arrived at the GSNEO History Committee office.   Sunny took one look , saw what was in there,  and gave me a call.  

Where it has been all these years?  She says they didn't have all this information available to them when they wrote "A Promise Kept"   - but hey - better late than never!    

I couldn't resist immediately sharing the letter from James Kirby himself!   Some of the information is not new - but I never had a source to really confirm.  I like that Kirby capitalized the names of trees!   I like that he called his workshop " the power house" .  I especially am happy to hear how sturdy the dam is!!!!!!!

The most surprising thing to me is that when the Girl Scouts bought the property, the mechanism for the self-clarifying lake was still operating!!!   I wonder if the old council ever realised what a unique structure this was & tried to maintain it?   I wonder if anyone ever took care of the ballbearings in the millwheel per Kirby's instructions?   

Stuff I want to find out more about - evidently there was some sort of farming operation still going on.   a chicken coop?  extra barns?  whooa!  what's up with those?   I'm more pumped than ever to do some archeology!!!

Next up:  the official description of the land when the council was getting ready to buy it,   the campaign to raise the money , old maps.  Tons of stuff about the early council.  Poor Sunny had to pry my hands off the xerox machine and drag me screaming out the door.  She promises to let me back in if I promise to behave.

Some of it I will summarize instead of repeating everything  - but Rob has agrred to scan everything so it can be posted on the history blog!

Lynn 

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