From Eric H. "Old shed at the top
of the abandoned ski-slope on the Academy Street extension. It sits at the back
of the zoo, and is completely boarded up. I remember when they used to close off
that street in the winter, but was never up there myself (too young)."From Bill B. "Old Tow Shed. I am just old enough to remember the rope tow
- literally a motor powered rope which the skiers could grab on to at the bottom
of the hill in order to be pulled up to the top. Many years ago."Derryl
J. writes "I do remember the old rope tow, and yes, they did close off the
street. This was probably in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was great fun."
On
10/28/11 evilmonkey writes "I grew up in Watertown and have many fond memories
of skiing at that slope.On
1/24/14 Ed writes "I skied at the park in the early 70s when I was a kid. If you
grabbed the rope the wrong way it would knock you down, prompting jeers from the
crowd. (The correct way was one hand in front and one behind you, slowly
gripping the sliding rope till it caught your gloves and yanked you forward.)
On
2/24/2022 Richard Delaney writes "Spent many days there - I’d walk to the park from my house on Ohio st and put on my skis at beginning of closed off read and ski skate to the hill in the 70’s. Bought my skis from money I won from Holy Family bingo. That tow rope got awful slippery and was a challenge to hold onto as it was so icy."
From Eric H: "In
1891, a footbridge spanning from the present village of Glen Park (then known as
"Jim Woods' Falls"--the village later took the name of the amusement park as
it's own) across the river was built by the Springfield Iron Works of
Springfield, MA for the head of the Watertown and Brownville Street Railway
Company, Lincoln G. DeCant.From
Troy Gladle on 2/21/16: "There is more pieces of the foot bridge still standing I believe
to be pillars on the fishing access side of the river between the racks and the
main river. Very hidden from view. There is also a few other structures down
stream from the dam that I could not find any info about. They could be remains
of the second remington n sons paper mill. It must of been a very large
structure." 
From Travis O.:
"I passed that house all the time while I was growing up. I always thought one
day I would buy it and fix it up. It seems I may have missed my chance. The last
time I drove by it the roof had finally caved in. It looked like it was a tidy
little house at one time though."
From Travis O.:
"A seemingly abandoned warehouse-type building that remains in surprisingly good
condition year after year. I think the interesting part of it is all the
windows. The natural light inside that building must be been great."From Kim F.: "This is not abandoned, not sure who owns it, but there was
a garage sale out of it a few years ago, and I have seen the occasional person
there in a pickup truck."From Rebecca: "Why do you think it
is in good shape? Maybe because the owners live across the street. It used
to be a woodworking shop. There also used to be several big looms that
wove rugs in there." From
Dave on 8/26/11 "Was pleasantly surprised to see my "abandoned" shop in
your album. Yes, Rebecca, it is in use & I do live across the highway You are
correct. It was &, to some extent still is, a woodworking shop. At one time
prefab cabins were manufactured there. Also truck racks were made to order.
Inside evidence of painting is quite obvious.
On 4/3/13
Anne writes "The roof on this house was replaced by Gary Beckstead, of
Butterville a number of years ago."On 5/20/13
Tangie Nier writes "I used to live in the yellow house directly next door
to this old school house, someone actually lived in it and took care of it then,
evidently in the 17 yrs I have been gone, it has become run down. My dad
actually attened class in that 1 room school house back in the day!"On
3/20/15 James Fletcher writes "Any body know who the currant owner is ? I
would love to live in a little place like this. Is it for sale or rent ?"
From comac1103 (via
Flickr.com):
"What a cool little school."From KeenTurtle (via
Flickr.com):
"Nice perspective."
From Rusty W.: "I grew up on the property adjacent to the old stone house in
Smithville. The first owner I knew were Mr. and Mrs. Fred Greene..when they
passed it sat vacant until a gentleman bought it and refurbished it to period
correctness. The parlor walls were a vivid red velvet and it had a large wood
burning cook stove. At one time, or as the story goes, it housed the post office
in the front room. "
From comac1103 (via
Flickr.com):
"It is a beautiful home if it wasn't trespassing I would love to go and see
what's inside."Jim
writes "This house has great lines and such promise. I'd love to restore
it!"On
11/04/11 J. Morgan writes "Happy to say the old Smith house in Smithville is not
abandoned, my wife and I bought the property August of this year (2011)!
We are currently renovating, we are going to keep it as close to period as
possible. It is going to be a beautiful home to raise our twin daughters,
and spend the rest of our lives in!! We are open to any information on the
history of the house."
From Rusty W.: "This barn at one time housed an automotive garage, where stock
car racers were built and raced at the old Watertown Fairground Speedway.
Cars were built for 'Flip' Russell. The property was purchased by the Smithville
Fire Department (located across the street) for use as a parking lot and
possibly a memorial park for deceased members. I have enclosed a pic of
the barn being torn down." 
From Rusty W.: "The large brick house was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Higgs. It was
actually an old hotel, and the mail room/front desk is still intact. The entire
second floor is a ballroom, with wonderful hardwood floors. Presently a lady
from Massachusetts owns the property and occasionally spends weekends there. Mr. Higgs
operated the sawmill/gristmill that used to be behind the present fire hall in
the village. "
Majic tells me that it was
originally going to be a barn. It has been around for 20-30 years, since someone
wanted to start a farm there and never completed it for whatever reason. The
land used to be owned by someone by the name of Blake, who later sold it to Bach
and is now part of the parcel that Bach's Gravel Pit is on.Kevin B.
writes: "It was built years ago as a dairy barn, and the guy actually did have
some cattle there for a short time. But, he never made a go of it. The Amish
started taking it down a few months ago to salvage the wood. It was a nice
looking building before it was torn apart. It was stucco with three dormers on
the front. There is a really nice manmade pond just behind that barn. The pond
is about 3 acres big with three little islands in the middle of it. Also, some
open fields behind it." He also says that there is a trail through the
woods that comes out at the top of Bach's gravel pit.On
11/25/13 mf writes "I want to live here! This would make an awesome "earthship"
structure."
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OABONNY. All Rights Reserved. Site first online on July
28, 2004 
