Page 60 - Old Abandoned Buildings of Northern New York

Taken on 06/17/11
Long Falls Park on small island park off from Riverside Drive in Carthage, Jefferson County, Guyot Island. These are the ruins of the Carthage water pumphouse and headrace, the National Paper Tissue plant, Guyots Island storehouse and Carthage Iron Works mill, the village created this park and preserved the ruins and fenced them in so that people can enjoy them.
You can find more photos from this island, this area in Carthage, and nearby mill ruins on this page and this page.

On 1/2/12 bruno writes "My dad worked there in the 40s after the war. As a boy in the 70s we explored the old mill, very dangerous place. Found my dad's name on a posting on a board. Was pretty cool."

Taken on 06/17/11
The ominous-looking 'caves' are the cellars and interior strcutures of some of the mills and mill parts.

Taken on 06/17/11
HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo made up of seven exposures, to show the interior structure and contrasts inside this. TA says that he thinks this is the base of one of the old suphite tanks.
(This photographic manipulation is also shown on the artwork page).

Date 8/21/2011. Photo by ex-D&H Trainman.
Old train roundhouse, Whitehall, Washington County

Date 8/21/2011. Photo by ex-D&H Trainman.
More photos of the roundhouse.

Taken on 09/11 by CharlieB
Old Grange building, Town of Dix, Schyuler County, NY about 2 miles outside of the village of Watkins Glen.

CharlieB contacted the town historian, Andrew Tompkins, Museum Director, who writes that the following is from 85 year-old Marian Boyce, who lives down the road and has been a Grange member for years and is the current president:
"The Grange Hall in Townsend is owned by Townsend Grange #1208. We have been a grange for 100 years. When the Baptist Church (original owners) ceased, the property returned to the original owner (who was a Grange member) and he deeded the property to the Grange. The Grange is still active but cannot meet in the building as the red foundation beams have almost turned to powder. The Grange is seeking grants, etc. to repair the Hall. The Church was built in 1864 and given to the Grange in the late 1940s."

On 10/06/11 Charlie Barney writes "Until I recently drove by this Grange building, I doubt I have heard the name of the Grange spoken in decades. What became of my 4-H club in the farming community/small town where I grew up ? I suppose as you drive across America through the Plains states, these organizations are more active in isolated areas. In the high school yearbooks of my past, many of the individual graduating seniors' profiles listed them as members of F.F.A. (Future Farmers of America). Not so, now.
The abandoned Grange building has its own story to tell, as well as the story of a past era, enriching our understanding of how of modern American society evolved. An Amazon.com paperback "Hello Everybody !" is of interest. It tells of the birth and enormous effect of the advent of radio, mainly in rural settings, replacing organizations (like The Grange) as primary sources of news of interest and entertainment to farmers.
If these stories bring pleasant memories of times past, you may enjoy reading "The Year The Lights Came On" (paperback, also available at Amazon). It's the story of when rural electrification became a fixture that changed rural life forever (as told through the eyes of a young farm boy). No more Grange Hall dances illuminated by gaslight. It was more romantic than flourescent lighting - so I am told.
For better or worse, there are current custodians of these past days. You will see no electrical wires drooping from the poles to homes or schools of our Amish citizens. Twenty-five feet of clothes line hold the family collection of black, functional clothing, dancing in the wind. (My kids always wondered how I was so good at spotting an Amish farm). I haven't told them yet. Are days really better ? I took a photo in rural New York recently, where an Amish horse and buggy were patiently waiting for their owner to emerge from a small store/gas station. Above the horse, the gas prices were listed - almost four dollars for the cheap grade. The horse neighed, probably laughing.
So it goes ..."

On 11/21/13 Amanda G. writes "This church has been repainted and brought back to life. Unknown if it is going to be used again, but it does look great."

Date Summer 2009. Photos by Don Argus, Jr.
Ross Mill, on the Boquet River in Willsboro, Essex County. Ross writes that "It certainly warrants preservation and restoration, but it may already be too late - the brick gable looked unstable, and the floor timbers have rotted away."

Date Summer 2009. Photos by Don Argus, Jr.
More photos of the mill.

Woodshed/workshop/outhouse, near Constable, Franklin County. Candycat writes "I thought the turkey vultures on top were kind of eerily like the omens of the houses slow slide into decay. By the way, the house itself is roughly 70 years old and has never been hooked up to electricity. I know a few of the families that owned it over the past 30 years, it was always run on propane, wood, generators and in the last case, car batteries."
Photos taken in June 2011 by CandyCat13