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Taken on 11/17/06
Cheese Cellar and foundations, Perch Lake Road between Parish (Jenkins) Road and corner of Kiser Road, near entrance to Perch Lake (the lake, not the roads)
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Comments from visitors:
From comac1103 (via Flickr.com): "This is an amazing shot, I love it!"

Taken on 11/17/06
Interior of previous picture

Updated 09/23/08
It looks like the owner is cleaning out the area around this so I got a few clearer and updated pics from the driveway:


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Taken on 12/28/06
Route 26, outside of Fort Drum
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Comments from visitors:
Thanks to Hope M. of Perceptionphotography.biz for the great research she has done on this house.  She writes: 'James Ward House, info obtained from Evans Mills Library pertaining to stone house on Rt 26 which at the time of its construction was called the Evans Mills-Leraysville Road.  The Georgian house was built by James Ward in 1829.  His father, Thomas Ward came from England in 1802 as part of a surveying party.  Thomas became one of the 1st settlers of the Town of Leray.  At the first town meeting he was elected clerk, he served as school commissioner in 1813. He served as a corporal in the War of 1812 and later as a justice of the peace and operated a general store. James Ward was a real estate broker and money lender with a large accumulated wealth. He and his wife Lovina (nee Barber) had several children , one of whom Buel F. Ward occupied the property upon his fathers relocation to Carthage in 1863. In 1870 the house and farm of about 220 acres was sold by James and Lovina Ward to Joseph V and Almira Bichel, who seven years later in 1877 sold it to Roxee A. Ward, wife of Buel Ward. The property remained in the possession of The Wards until 1910, when it was sold to Peter D. and Della J. Helmer. The Helmers retained it for 25 years and sold to Edward and Dorothy Buskirk in 1935. My information lists Ernest Welser as obtaining the property from the Buskirks, listed as the (Current) owner, I am unsure of the date of the story so there may be a large gap in years to the present day.'
From CWorrel (via Flickr.com): "Nice shot. Cool location!"
Arthur W. writes about this home adjacent to Fort Drum on what use to be the Evans Mills LeRaysville Rd: "My Grandfather purchased this property in 1945. A close investigation of this home would reveal these are actually 2 homes, the frame portion having been moved from across the road when the US acquired the land."

Taken on 12/28/06
Route 26, outside of Fort Drum
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Comments from visitors:
Anonymous writes that someone lives in this house now.
Amanda writes "My family owns and resides in this house. We have owned it since 2006 but did not officially move in until September of 2008. We are currently renovating, slowly but surely. Watch the house change..."
On 4/3/13 Laura writes "That is great! Love to read that such a beautiful home is being restored. You should consider a home improvement blog to show all of your renovations!"

Taken in 2004, by Anonymous
A Webmaster Favorite
William Martin Mansion, large old stone house outside of Lafargeville on Route 180, submitted anonymously.  Owned later by Manford and Lousie Jerome and now owned by another landowner.
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Update 03/06/08: Unfortunately this entire building has been torn down.  The only thing that remains is the wind mill tower (still turning). See pic below.
Ruins of mansion after demolition

Comments from visitors:
Anonymous writes "I believe this is the backside of the house. It is located on the left side as you drive from Stone Mills to Lafargeville."  According to an e-mail from 'Eric' the house belonged the Bretsch family when he was young, and the family had a huge dairy barn to the right of the house (see photos of ruins below).
From JuneNY (via Flickr.com): "Very nice picture!"
David S. writes "The windmill was dismantled in 2008 and will be restored."


Taken on 8/31/96, by Anonymous
Another shot of previous from same person, but earlier photos
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Comments from visitors:
I inquired of the historian Bonnie Schafer about this building, she writes: "The house was called the William Martin Mansion at one time. John Lafarge transferred a little over 217 acres to William and Sophronia Martin on June 7 1830. The stone house was quarried from nearby native limestone, had 11 rooms, 2 large hallways and fireplaces. Mr Martin was supervisor of town of Orleans.
The property passed a few time, Delano Calvin and heirs owned it at one time. In 1882 the stone house and farm was conveyed to Wendel Hyel and transferred to Georgiania Jerome on Nov 20 1922. Its been in the Jerome family every since. From my understanding no one has lived in the house since early 1970. I checked with the town clerk too, its listed under Manford and Lousie Jerome.
In 1990 while out biking we heard a very loud noise from the building as we passed by... a closer look we found that the stair case had collapsed."
On 5/25/13 Gunther S. writes "I have salvaged the building material and used it in the reconstruction of a farm house in Clayton."

Taken on 8/31/96, by Anonymous
Another angle
A reference to the house on Nan Dixon's page "WELCOME TO PART III   A SCRAPBOOK BELONGING TO
MRS. PAULINE JOHNDROW FLICK
" says: 'Mr. Heyl has owned for 50 years the large double house of stone, built shortly after the LaFarge mansion, and patterned somewhat like it. The house was originally built by a man who endeavored to build as fine a place as LaFarge, and who ruined himself in the endeavor.'
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Taken on 8/31/96, by Anonymous
Another shot
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Taken on 8/31/96, by Anonymous
Interior
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Taken on 8/31/96, by Anonymous
Interior
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Taken on 8/31/96, by Anonymous
Interior
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Taken on 12/29/06
The remains of the Lafarge Mansion, Route 180 outside of Lafargeville, all that's left is the north wing and some ruins
For an old photo of the intact building and some history of the Lafarge Mansion check out this pageFor another great photo from the heyday of this mansion click here.   This was built in 1833 by John Frederick Lafarge, a Frenchman from New Orleans who made his fortune in the West India trade.  According to the now-defunct Stonehouse.org by C. Bonney - the Master Mason was Hial Cook and the stucco relief work was by Thomas Drake.  At one time this building was the St. Vincent de Paul's Seminary.
One account mentions that when the stone part of the mansion was demolished the stone (likely crushed of course) was used for a base for Route 180.
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Comments from visitors:
A person previously wrote: "The one across from the farm has an underground tunnel to the big high house across the road, next to the barn.  It was part of the underground railroad.  The cellar has collapsed onto the tunnel." 

Date unknown
The above excellent old postcard is courtesy of Eric and shows the intact LaFarge Mansion  

Comments from visitors:
Eric, who lived there as a kid, writes: "The original mansion had 40 (one article says 42 - M.) rooms. The wing we lived in had only a few rooms. I visited the house in the 1970's when it was still standing but empty. The ceilings were 13 feet high and the windows were long, almost to the floor, and the walls were 4 feet thick. One could sit in the window seats. The windows were framed in wood and there were shutters inside."
Paul P. says that the decision was made to tear down the mansion for safety reasons as there was evidence of trespassers, here are some photos that he sent:



Taken on 12/29/06
The remains of one end of what was once considered the largest barn in Jefferson County, Perch River Dam Road, off from Parish Road
The barn was built by the late Tom Anthony between two hills and was 250 feet long and 60 feet from the roof to the ground. Horses and wagons loaded with hay could enter either end near the roofline and the hay was dumped down into deep mows on either side, which saved a lot of time at a time when most farm work was done by hand.  The cows and horses were stabled in the bottom part of the barn, in the stone part.  In front of the barn was the farm-house, also long-gone.  These photos are of the limestone ramp at the north-west end, there was also one at the other end with a trail leading up the hill to it.
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To see the spring house for this farm go to page 3 and to see some more pics from this farm go to page 18.  More info about this barn and old pictures of the intact structure at these Nan Dixon pages:  barn, barn1, barn2, barn3, & barn4
<Click here> for the page with all the Anthony Farm/Cooke Road Pictures and info on one page.