1819 "BEACON" BARN

1819 Rockcastle Homestead Barn

When I lived in Kentucky I was taken in by the spirit of barns. They represented so much of our rural heritage and our past personal individualism. Central Kentucky still has many of these ancient barns crouched on the land. The barns seem to speak to many folks -- as they fly by on the road in their vehicles -- saying to them  "remember when." 

Log granary section of 1819 barn

Vintage barns are like genes -- all different. Built by folks that toiled on the land yet had a certain freedom that is not known today. The above 1819 barn began as a log granary and as the farm grew, plank board additions were added.  The final barn was a "beacon" of a coming together within a family to produce the best they could.

1819 barn --  Plank Board Door

Strength and endurance paid off. No rules and regulations to tell them what they could do with their land. No federal fees to pay or forms to fill out if one wanted to grow organically and no corporate overseers of your farm.  No animals with white tags punched in their ears. Not in the early years. 

1819 Barn --  Tin  Roof

Hundreds of "beacon" barns still stand in Kentucky. Many of them alone and decaying. And yet  they have many stories to tell us. If only we would take the time to listen to them.

NELSON COVERED BRIDGE

Still very much  in use -- one lane only

Located in  Lane County Oregon.

SMALL TOWN PAINTED LADIES

Along River Road in Mapleton, Oregon you will find these "painted ladies" old store fronts -- now standing as reminders of a time long ago. Then this small business area left and moved to highway 126 in Mapleton. However the "painted ladies," remained along the river front even though they no longer served the community of Mapleton for commercial wants. Located in a scenic riverfront area I'm sure these ladies are content -- they played their part in establishing Mapleton long ago. 

Mapleton population census 2000 -- 918 people

This is a portion of the storefronts that moved to highway 126  --years ago. In the background at the top right one can see the second story looming of the old yellow painted lady on River Road. So essentially the painted ladies sit on the old commercial River Road while the stores that replaced the painted ladies now reside on the old but updated highway 126. The old ladies sit back to back with the not so old. Confusing? Come to Mapleton to see how it all works.

SMALL TOWNS -- WHERE EVERYONE KNOWS YOUR NAME

Father and son -- Dan Ledford and Dan Ward Ledford

Meet some native Kentuckians – Dan Ledford and his son Dan Ward Ledford (standing) who live near each other in the Paint Lick community. Dan Ledford is ninty-two and has lived in his home for about fifty years.  


This post is about ninety-two year old Dan. He represents a lifetime of living in rural settings. He and his mother came to Paint Lick on a train from northern Kentucky when he was a boy. His father moved their possessions to the Paint Lick area by horse and wagon.


As a young man he served in WWII overseas. After the war ended he came back to the Paint Lick  area where he soon was employed as a school bus driver.  


He drove the bus for the school district for most of his working years. As a school bus driver he figures that he accumulated about two million miles during his working career of driving school routes and for special school events.


Often Dan can be seen sitting on his large front porch where local folks honk a “hello” as they travel the road in front of his house. He sends back a big wave of his hand to them.


Paint Lick is a small town where everyone knows your name. 

Dan Ledford's Homestead -- Sitting Chair and Barn

Dan bought his house and 15 acres about fifty years ago under interesting circumstances.  While attending an auction, a friend encouraged him to buy the homestead up for bid. Dan told him he didn't think he had enough money but he would try anyway. But he found out he did have enough money as the homestead only went for 9500 dollars. When the auctioneer yelled, “sold”  he realized he was the new owner. This was in 1960 and the homestead has been his home ever since.

Dan's Historic Church Pew 

Dan has two children and is a widower. There has been some changes in the area  yet it's still basically a farming place. He intensely likes where he lives. A small American flag flies from a corner post of his front porch and Dan often wears a cap announcing he is a war veteran.  


He is the oldest member of the 1700s historic Paint Lick Presbyterian Church just down down the road from where he lives. There is one of the old Presbyterian church pews on his porch.  


All things considered, Dan is well entrenched in the cultural context of his area.

Dan Ledford sitting on his front porch

You might say that Dan characterizes many rural citizens in this country. Citizens with community pride who have worked hard along with family members toward a good life. That have lived in an area for many years while their family members often settle in and around that community. 


If you are ever in Paint Lick on Route 52 and see Dan sitting on his front porch – honk a “hello – he’ll send you back a big wave as everyone knows his name in Paint Lick.

ABANDONED HOUSE

Ted Kooser wrote a poem titled  "Abandoned House." In his poem he paints a picture of a family that lived a rather destitute life in a country house. I have selected a few of Kooser's lines to portray the depravity that led ultimately to the house's abandonment.

He was a big man, says the size of his shoes . . .

A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall
papered with lilacs . . .

Money was scarce . . .

Something went wrong, says the empty house . . .

she left in a nervous haste.

Perhaps the family lived in an old country home like the one I have pictured here. Now almost biting the dust.

I'm sure you have had  thoughts about who the persons were that once occupied an uninhabited house along some farm road. 

Mr. Kooser uses words to draw pictures, attempting to capture the lives that once existed in his poem's vacant house.

Ted Kooser was the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 -2006.He has had nineteen books published on poetry. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his book titled Delights and Shadows. He also has illustrated children's books. 

Source: "Abandoned House," Sure Signs, New Selected Poems, Ted Kooser, Zoland Books

Photos: abandoned farm house, Madison County, Kentucky

UNADULTERATED OLD HOUSE IN SMALL TOWN

OLD ONE CAR GARAGE WITH NO TRESPASSING SIGN

A house in a very small town caught my  eye as I was driving down its main street. I instantly knew I wanted to find out more  about this place. I swung around and stopped in front of the house and noticed a sign attached to the  garage.  Sign said: NO TRESPASSING. Whoa, this stopped me dead in my tracks of going up to the door to introduce myself . I happened over to a nearby house and they told me the house was vacant --  and its owner was a lady in her eighties that was now living in a nursing home. 

FRONT OF THE HOUSE PORCH

With these few facts in hand I decided that I could take photos of the house from the street while searching  for clues about the the owner.

Initially, what attracted me to stop was the vernacular form of the house. But now I saw something else. -- it was the sitting porch standing as it probably stood when the elderly woman lived there. 

So, now I was looking at both the early architecture of the place and the front sitting porch. 


Based on the architecture, I put a date on the house as that of the early 1800s, It had not been restored, only preserved. It was an authentic example of a vernacular Federal/Greek Revival house.

So many questions swirled in my head:

--How long had she lived in the house?

--Was this a family home that had passed through several generations?

--Did she know who built the house or the garage or any of the outbuildings on the property?.

--Was it a large house because large families had lived in it?

Many other questions passed through my mind -- too many to write down here. 

OLD PORCH CHAIRS

Architecture aside, I turned to the sitting porch to seach for clues about the owner. It contained a little bit of interpretive material. 


The woman of eighty plus apparently liked plants as she had several planters sitting on the edge of the porch with remnants of former plants.

. 

She had some old metal chairs that appeared to be there for socializing.

OLD PORCH PLANT STANDS

Some old vintage plant stands stood empty on part of the porch. A chicken figure, that perhaps was a planter, sat on top of one of the stands. 

Together the architecture along with the materials on her porch seemed to tell me that over the years she made do with what she had. The house along with the porch artifacts  remained "as is" over the years.  "As is" meaning no changes. 

As an example of the remaining  "as is"  of the house architecture was the original weather-board siding, a few old outbuildings, old tin roof, original six over six  window panes (also called lights), column pilasters on the porch, and a fan light over the front door. 

My conclusion about the elderly lady was that she liked to socialize, loved plants, and liked things to remain as they were.

SIDE YARD WITH OUTBUILDINGS ON TOWN LOT

The over-all ambiance of the property gives one the ability to glance at a "real" historic setting -- not one that has been adulterated with the clean and sterile look of many museums.  The overall place is in context to its landscape -- a small town in Kentucky.

Its like an archaeological dig -- trying to interpret fragments into a viable story. Humans invariably leave debris when they have lived somewhere for any length of time.  The interpretation may not be entirely accurate but is usually fairly close to reality.

APPALACHIAN ADVERTISING BARN

KINGSTON ADVERTISING BARN - SIDE 1

Going... going ...  almost gone. That is the condition of a barn in the rural  Kingston community of  Madison County, Kentucky. With this decline one realizes the loss of a historic vernacular advertising barn.


Most folks are familiar with the Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco ads that are painted on barns, mostly found across the eastern part of the country. However, old barn ads cover a wide spectrum of products. In the case of the Kingston barn (above photo) we see an ad for Standard Motor Oil. 


Barn advertising was very popular during the period of 1900 to 1940. Companies paid barn painters to adorn ads on barns while the barn owners were paid a small stipend each  year. The advertising company was responsible to keep the ad freshly painted.  

KINSTONG ADVERTISING BARN - SIDE 2

This particular barn in Kingston has two sides painted. Each side has presentation to the flow of traffic in a particular direction. In the photo above one can see that the second painted side has most of its paint worn off and only the word GAS can be made out. 


It is difficult to date when this ad was painted on the Kingston barn. One local I talked with said he could remember the ad being on the barn since he was a boy about 45 years ago. Of course he also mentioned that it could have been there longer than 45 years. 


Today such painted barns can be considered historic landmarks. Some have been federally listed as National Historic Landmarks. Many are in decline or have been demolished. Efforts to save these artful treasures could bring community pride to rural areas. 


SOURCES:


Advertising Barns by William Simmonds


Rock City Barns by David Jenkins


Mail Pouch  Tobacco Barns,  Wikipedia

FOLK VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS -- Sunday Simplicities

Folk architectural fragments, vernacular in feeling, that I found in Madison, Mason, and Garrard Counties of Kentucky

Backside of smokehouse -- Madison County

Limestone entrance stairs to early 1800s house -- Garrard County

Deteriorating gingerbread trim -- Garrard County

Entrance Door to old business place -- Mason County

A 1700s KENTUCKY LOG CABIN-- Sunday Simplicities

Last weekend, when I drove my son to the Amtrak station in Maysville, Kentucky, we stopped at several interesting spots along the drive. One was a place called Washington. It was a "place" along a two-lane country road that was settled in the late 1700s and still retained remnants of that first settlement period.

Originally, in the 1790s the area around Washington contained around 119 log cabins. Above is one of the original log homes remaining in situ (not moved from its original place). There are only about ten of the original number left in the area. 

As one can tell from looking at the above photo, the log home is rather tilted from its years of use and exposure to the elements. But up until recently it was a Visitors Center for people to stop in and find out about the area. 

The first thing I noticed about the place were the shutters. I was not familiar with these types on old historic homes and wondered if it was some type of retro fit to make it look charming. A little research and I came up with the photo above from the Library of Congress. The same type of shutters were being used on this 1862 photo of a gin house in North Carolina. I suspect that the shutters are a southern indigenous type. It would be fitting that the log home would  adopt a naive type as it is constructed simply.    

The windows, I believe, are perhaps original but I can't say for sure. Many homes from the late 1700s had 6 over 6 panes in the windows or a 9 pane (lights) sash (McAlester). The chinking of course is recent as most old chinking had to be replaced every five years or so.

The original builder/s must have been quite short as my son would have to duck to get in the front door if it were open. I suppose that is why someone put the sign above the door that says, "duck."

Right now there is no one living in the place. but it is being well maintained. 

There was a sign out front that said that the home had been used as a residence up until the 1950s. At one time there were actually two families that lived in the log cabin.

The above photo is the back of the house. It shows the frame addition that was added in 1805. The roof is still being kept in what was probably the original type -- wood shake shingle. There are two chimneys -- one to the right in the photo and another to the left on the addition. 

The chimneys are old brick. I wondered if they had been limestone originally as so many of the historic homes  in Kentucky have it as chimney material. I called the Washington Visitor Center the day after I got back --  I found it online and I talked to a Jeanette Tolle. She said the chimneys were original and that the bricks had been produced right on the property.

I want to go back to this area when I have time. It certainly is an area rich in vernacular architecture.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday Simplicities is about -- my  outlook on life. Now in retirement I am observing new horizons -- opportunities have surfaced.  Economies have changed as well as my perspective on what is truly important in my simple life.  Stay tuned. 

WHAT IS THIS OLD KENTUCKY FARM OUTBUILDING CALLED?

I noticed this farm outbuilding several months ago and was stymied. I had many questions about it but the farm owners were not home and I was forty miles from where I lived so I snapped a few photos and went on my way. I have not been back to that area since.

My questions about the outbuilding still linger in my mind. What was it called? What was its use? How old was it? Was it still being used by the farm family?

Structurally it was constructed of corrugated steel in an ovoid shape. . It had a metal roof, three metal roof vents, two metal doors from my angle of view, and two metal closings near the roof line. I could not see the sides or back. I find all old farm buildings fascinating as they usually have stories to tell. With time these stories disappear as the structures leave the landscape.

I hope that someone familiar with this structure makes a comment on this post to let me know what exactly it is called. I have researched online and nothing comes up that resembles it. I thought it looked like a precursor to a silo.

My photos were taken from the road.

A barn sat fairly close to this outbuilding but I failed to get a good picture of it. I thought that perhaps since this unknown outbuilding was fairly close to the barn that they were used in tandem -- like maybe a granary storing feed for cattle?


This particular outbuilding is located in the Possey area of Madison County, Kentucky.

Perhaps it is a common structure in Central Kentucky??? Or elsewhere???

ARE SMALL TOWNS BECOMING MUSEUM SITES IN SITU?

SMALL TOWN CUSTOM -- TOWN FOLK SIT OUT IN FRONT OF A STOREFRONT AND DISCUSS THE WORLD OR TOWN EVENTS

As we are aware, small towns are declining. In 1950 44 %. of Americans lived on farms or small towns -- now it has declined to about 23%. Small towns located near urban areas fare better as employment opportunities are near. Decline has been attributed to many factors -- farmers losing out to large aggregate farming (read, corporate industrial), movement by the young to urban areas for jobs, loss of transportation such as railroads and not being near new highway systems, all of which cause political and economic shifts benefiting larger cities. Result -- small town decline. Small towns have been fighting this, some have been winning. But most are not.

OLD THEATER SEATS POISED INSIDE THE OLD COX HARDWARE BUILDING, MT VERNON, KENTUCKY

As I travel around Kentucky and other states I always like to take the back country roads and ride through the small towns and places. They offer many opportunities to experience what you cannot find elsewhere. Two of my favorites are the local businesses and architecture. The less disturbed the town is from outside influences the better I enjoy it.

A VICTORIAN FENCE SITTING ON AN EMPTY LOT -- A REMNANT LEFT FROM A BURNT-DOWN HOUSE IN MT VERNON KENTUCKY.

I have noticed that many folks like to jump in their cars and take rides in the country and small towns. Do they stop? I don't know. Are they treating these small towns like museums? Could be!

Let me call these "jump in the car and take a ride" folks, small town travelers or STT folks.

As a suggestion, perhaps small towns in an area could join together and highlight what the area has to offer. Not the Motel 8 or the McDonalds but the different-- the unique -- what they have and don't realize it. How about the streetscapes in many of these towns that hold authentic buildings built in situ by locals using many local resources. A tiny Victorian building, a century old city hall built of native stone plus much more. Yes, the STT will say "oh, that's pretty," as they drive through, but never know what they are really looking at.

Let's do what some small towns are beginning to do -- have a tiny visitor center run by volunteers. Package the unique and different in little flyers and provide a walking tour map. Leave the commercial ads out. Get school kids involved designing a small town web site for their town, again leave out the ads. Maybe do this a few times a year. Not a festival -- just a plain ole appreciation of small towns event. Get the folks interested in the towns. Start a movement of BACK TO SMALL TOWN LIVING. With computers one can live and work just about anyplace. I'm not suggesting a tourist town or area but to introduce folks to what is and was the beauty of small town living. Just an idea to perhaps plug the leaking decline.

BEAUTIFUL LIMESTONE STAIRS TO NOWHERE -- SMALL TOWN BUILDING -- MISSING IN ACTION

Small towns and villages hold a history of settlement and offer individuals a chance to live life in non-pretentious ways. The photos on this post were taken in the small town of Mt Vernon. Their population is abut 2,592 according to the 2000 census. They are quickly losing their lovely main street vitality as storefront businesses leave -- the fabric shrinks.

These are just a few ideas that popped into my head -- I'm sure there are many more out there.

KENTUCKY SMOKEHOUSE -- BOX CONSTRUCTION

SMOKEHOUSE -- Where meat is cured from a slow hardwood fire. Usually the smoked meat is stored in the smokehouse after being cured.

The above smokehouse sits on the Rodgers-Trible Homestead in Madison County, Kentucky, just outside Richmond. It is part of a large restoration effort by the Madison County Fiscal Court and the Battle of Richmond Association.

Presently the Rodgers-Trible Homestead is closed to the public. All outbuildings extant on the property appear to be untouched since becoming part of the museum homestead property. The exception is with what is believed to be a slave house -- it is presently under major restoration due to a severe state of decline.

It was a pleasure to walk the grounds (with permission) and be the only one peeking and peering into the outbuildings. Sometimes outbuildings are not appreciated for their "language" that "talk and tell" the history of a place. Hopefully, the buildings on this place will be left in their original state and only maintained as needed -- keeping their character. Every piece of an old structure is a story.

The Rodgers-Trible Homestead was settled in the early 1800s. As with all properties, over time, they change. The smokehouse is box board construction, a type of construction popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A shed roof structure is attached on the side -- perhaps constructed after the smokehouse was erected? The smokehouse sits perhaps 30 feet or so from the rear door of the main house. Even though it is labeled a smokehouse, it could have been used for various other rural uses.

Could the metal roof of the smokehouse have been wood shingles at one time? There are dirt floors inside both the smokehouse and its attached shed. Only one door leads into the smokehouse and one door into the shed. There is not a connecting interior door between the shed attachment and the smokehouse. Stepping into the smokehouse is accomplished by using a low elevated slab of quarried limestone.

The shed's one and only window is now empty of glass panes. It acts as a frame for the ancient tree just outside. As I walked about the large section of property I felt an eerie sense of people who once lived and worked there. This always seems to happen to me when I come across an empty homestead. I look for shadows of use on the buildings and paths worn over time. These shadows represent the living of a time past.

OLD ABANDONED KENTUCKY HOMESTEAD

About a month ago I was lost on twisting narrow roads that you find in the back-country where I live. Even though I was lost I was observing the beautiful views from my windshield. I knew I would eventually find my way out of the road maze.

While lost, I spotted this old abandoned Kentucky homestead off the side of the road with a real estate for sale sign. The place was gated so I had to shoot my post photos from quite a distance.

Now I am speculating that the attitude of most people who drive pass this homestead view it as a bunch of falling down, useless shacks (except developers). I view it in another way.

This is what I view when I gaze out upon such places. I see -- continuity and change, tradition, folk culture, authentic people, family, settlement patterns, craftsmanship, material culture, life and death, and sustainability over time and space. What do you see?

KENTUCKY BLACK BARN WITH QUILT SQUARE

KENTUKY BLACK BARN WITH QUILT SQUARE

I took this photo about a month ago. I was out riding along HWY 21 in Madison County when I spotted this distinguished, well kept barn. So many of the barns in this area are having a difficult time staying in good repair. Some actually falling to the ground for their final resting place -- and with that loss the disappearance of cultural stories. I feel barns have moods, depending on the weather conditions and their state of health. Above the substantial, blackened barn is wrapped in the cool, misty day reflecting a lightness upon the land.

1928 LATTICE WOOD CLOTHES-LINE POLE

WOOD LATTICE CLOTHES POLE

Several years ago I found a 1928 catalog of wood lattice items designed for outdoors use around unpretentious homes. It was put out by the Barker Lumber & Fuel Company in Plymouth, Wisconsin. During the twenties, lattice work was all the rage for outdoor furnishings. The catalog blended both useful and ornamental together.

One would not expect that even a clothes pole would be included in the ornamentation of a yard but above is the one pictured in the catalog. In the past, when most homes had a wood clothes pole (or post as some say), they were of various designs, some very standard and some unique. If one keeps their eyes open around old homesteads they just might find an old pole design. Today, there is a growing need to have this utilitarian pole resurrected for saving energy by hanging clothes out once again.

Some home associations have laws forbidding hanging out clothes in the yard but some association homeowners are taking the issue to court to reestablish their right to hang out their wash.

Just in case you want to resurrect this particular pole (photo above) here is the text of the lumber and fuel catalog describing how the pole is to be constructed:
It is six feet high above the ground. The top cross piece is three and one-half inches square and forty-eight inches long. Lattice is of one inch by two-inch strips dressed.
Easy huh?

Want to get a good night sleep? Try fresh line-dried linens on your bed! Their scent is like an aphrodisiac.

BLACK BARN TERRITORY

BLACK TOBACCO BARNS SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE

Lately I have been thinking about barns and the colors they are painted. I was raised in Michigan and Michigander's barns are, for the most part, painted red. When I drive across Nebraska and Iowa it seems to me that white barns are in the majority. And here in Kentucky black barns are everywhere. Now these calculations are not scientific. It's just the feelings that I get in the different areas I have been exposed to across the nation.

These barn thoughts returned to me today as I was driving down a country road called Highway 21 in Madison County, Kentucky. The air was whitish-gray with a misty fog accompanied by a light grayish overhead sky. These weather conditions created a steely day, from top to bottom. I was in the vicinity of a small crossroads town called Big Hill. I glanced at the surrounding barns -- all painted black. The starkness of the black barns against the day created a surreal impression.

But, back to barn colors. Another color comes to mind when I think of barns and that is yellow. I have not seen it used often. I cannot think of any other colors for barns except white, black, red, and yellow and a no color, a la natural. Why not purple, green, or blue? Or are these colors used someplace I am unaware of? So I now have a question of which I can't seem to find a good answer. I know that the colors of barns are a folkway -- expressing the character and personality of the area over time. My question is why are certain colors dominant in some areas while not in others? Who started all this area favoritism of barn colors?

POSTING ON POSTS

OH, OH, DOG ALERT!!!
STANDING BEFORE A DRIVEWAY GATE POST ENTRANCE

I travel many country roads looking for interesting subjects for folkways notebook. Usually I spot something of interest then stop to take photos. I have found that this sometimes leads to dog confrontation issues. I love dogs and I do respect their instinct to protect their territory. Above are two large, beautiful dogs that greeted me as I stepped out of my car to take photos of old gate posts in the Kirksville area of Madison County, KY.

I found their demeanor a bit edgy. I find the universal dog recognition of a stern "NO" deters them from coming close. Then I sweet talk them while I take the photos for my post, all the while keeping them at a distance with a constant eye on them.

I call my investigative trips for my posts -- field trips. So far, I have been lucky not to have met an overly protective dog. I am careful, believe me.

Anyway, the above gate post was one of a pair that sat on either side of this particular drive opening. It was constructed of painted white stacked limestone and had a large slab of natural limestone as its capstone. The drive continued across acreage to a large new house being built. No sign of an old home. The aged gate posts were surely part of an old homestead. I think the gateposts were all that was left of what was in all probability a historic farm. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I had come to this area to take photos of several gate posts that I had noticed on a previous trip to the area. There are sprinklings of posts in central Kentucky but this area seemed to have an abundance of them. For the most part, many had an aged look.

Before I came back to the area I had done some research on old gate posts in Kentucky and came up with nothing. So, most of what I write about today is purely from my observations and thoughts about their age.

CHURCH WALKWAY GATE POST ENTRANCE

Above is a pair of walkway posts constructed of limestone. Limestone being an abundant natural material in this part of Kentucky and was used extensively by early builders. As a natural resource it was used for such things as buildings, steps, gate posts, building foundations and other types of construction.

Kirksville is a very small rural town with a farming base. The Kirksville church above was built in 1878. Perhaps the gate posts of this church were from that time-frame? I feel that they are from the 1800s. The motifs on the body (upright part) of the above limestone posts are found on other similar posts around Kirksville. Perhaps a local stone mason had a shop in the area , using this motif to identify the business like today's commercial logos?

DRIVEWAY GATE POST ENTRANCE

Above is a similar yet with a slight variation of the limestone motif of the previous church's posts. The capstone is very different. Here we see a capstone of a mushroom form with square capstone. The post's uprights have the same motif as the previous church pair. As the above photo shows, these posts were used aside a drive rather then as a walkway entrance.

I believe that when posts near the road were of the drive type, they led to a farm with acreage. If the posts near the road were of the walkway type then it was for a non-farm homestead. All the old gate posts I discovered abutted the roadway, both drive and walkways types. None were set back far from the road. Many of the old extant posts I discovered did not have structures associated with them: apparently they had disappeared from the landscape. Now they stood alone.

WALKWAY GATE POST ENTRANCE

Above is similar to the church pair: a walkway type post entrance. The motif is almost identical to the church posts motif as well as the drive post uprights. Here we have what I feel is the original ironwork gate. The church post pair had iron fragments that indicated a gate had once been attached. The church walkway posts as well as the above walkway posts have limestone steps leading up to them. No home was present with the above pair.

WALKWAY GATE POST -- IRON GATE DESIGN

Above, I tried to take a clear photo of the iron tips on the top of the walkway's gate . The motif of the iron tips are similar to types that I have seen on Victorian fencing.

Leaving the Kirksville area, I thought that some historic preservation student could do some great research in this area on these old gateposts.