OLD GENERAL STORE AND POST OFFICE -- BLACHLY, OREGON

Deep in the Oregon Coastal range is a small cluster containing two buildings that represents the town of Blachly. Unincorporated, it serves the folks that seem to live out of sight in the mountains. Population of Blachly is 542 folks with six people per square mile. 

Hanging from the post office overhang is an original 

old tin sign identifying the Blachly post office. The post office was established in 1892.

And the second of Blachly's town buildings is the now defunct old General Store residing to the left of the post office in the photo above  and was built in 1918 by Arnold Myers grandfather. And who is Arnold Myers?

Arnold Myers caught leaving the post office while I was snapping some of the old post office photos. I asked him if he was a local and he assured me that he was by telling me he had lived his entire life in Blachly. 

He did say that the building next to the post office was built by his grandfather in 1918 and became the first building in Blachly that was a dedicated General Store. It was sold 20 years ago to a marketing firm. 

He told me that the store's architecture had not really changed although I noticed the place had new windows and siding. Arnold told me the porch still was the same design as when it was built. Also he added that parties and dances used to be held in the upstairs. 

A General Store with that many years of operation surely has many stories to tell about the community. 

Arnold said there were no official historians of the town. 

OLD APPLE CRABAPPLE TREE ON VERNACULAR HOMESITE

When I was walking along the sidewalk of a small town, taking photos of an early Lancaster, Kentucky house, I noticed this tree in the front yard -- its apples were all over the ground and had spilled its fruit out to the sidewalk and beyond into the street. Hundreds of the same size small apple.

This pattern of so many dropped apples brought back memories of the old crabapple trees of my youth. I rarely see these types of trees anymore. Only around older houses or homesteads.

I did some research online about crabapples. I found that if they are used for fruit production they are called apple crabapple trees. If they are used for ornamental flowering they are called flowering crabapples.

I believe that I do not see many of the old apple type any more because folks just don't bake and cook like they used too. Its lost its stature as an important part of household food. Also, I believe that the extensive fall of the small apples would be looked upon as messy in today's culture. Gotta keep those lawns neat and tidy.

The apple crabapple tree provides fruit for jam, jellies, cider, spicing up sauces, pickles and probably other uses that were not listed online.

Here is the definition of an apple crabapple tree provided by TreeHelp.com:

Crabapples are differentiated from apples based on fruit size. If the fruit is larger than two inches it is classified as an apple. Fruit is borne in the summer and fall. Colors range from dark-reddish purples through the reds and oranges to golden yellow and even some green. On certain selections the fruit can remain attractive well into the late winter. The larger fruited cultivars offer a bonus because the fruit can be spiced or used in jelly.

Here is the front view of the early house where I found the tree. It has had some updating over the many years of its existence.

I will venture to say that the architectural trim around the porch was added sometime before the 1900s. New storms or windows were added some 30 years ago. The outdated landscape bushes look like from the 40s or 50s. The house is fairly devoid of any mature landscaping other than an old hydrangea bush and the old crabapple tree. Perhaps at some point within the last 50 or 60 years there began a landscaping shift toward the barren look that seems to be still popular with many today.

A shot of the northwest front corner of the lovely early brick house appears to be in good shape structurally.

This close-up shot shows an original Federal type light (window) over the front door. This would date the house pre 1850. Usually Federal front doors also had side lights as well as a light over the door. But, this house would fall in the vernacular architecture type so therefore it was built simply incorporating only some of the styles of the time.

Now getting back to the lovely old crabapple in the front yard. I thought about the fruit laying on the ground. Luckily birds and some mammals will find these apples a treat, especially as they ferment. The tree apparently is in mid-age of its projected 70 year life. It has some producing years left. Surely it will produce memories to children passing by -- like the memories I have from long ago. So now the tree is for wildlife and children only. But that is OK.

*****

The Appalachian town of Lancaster, Kentucky was founded in 1797 and in 2008 the population was 4,403.

SMALL TOWN ARCHITECTURAL DOORS -- KENTUCKY

Double set of entrance doors to Cox's Hardware store. In business since 1907. The small town of Mt Vernon's streetscape reflected in their door windows.

Appears to be original entrance door on a vacated storefront business. Tile work entrance also appears to be original. Approximate building age -- 100 plus years.

Commercial entrance door -- 1940s type -- stands empty.

Empty storefront double set of doors. Building architecture is Romanesque style.

Recessed commercial door entrance -- matching wood panels with windows flanking the door. CLOSED

Appears to be original hardware on recessed entrance door above.

PLEASE PIG, GET OVER THE STILE

Riding down a Kentucky country road, I spotted this tubular metal object going up and over a wire fence. I stopped and looked it over and on closer inspection realized it was a stile. A stile for sure. It met the definition -- a device that allows folks to cross over a fence or low wall without letting animals to go through. In this case it was a metal type ladder stile.

It reminded me of a story, Old Woman and Her Pig, that many children hear and enjoy when they are young. It's an English tale that begins with an old women that finds a sixpence and decides to go to the market and buy a pig. She buys the pig and on her way home she comes to a stile and says:

Please pig, get over the stile
But the pig would not

The story continues on with how the pig finally gets over the stile. A fun tale for children.

When I was young I was always fascinated with this tale and wondered what the heck a stile was. No one seemed to explain it clearly. As an adult, I learned exactly what a stile was but had never actually seen a working one. That is why I was surprised to actually see a real one that day on the country road.

OLD HILL STILE -- SCOTLAND
PUBLIC DOMAIN WIKIPEDIA

Why the tale of the Old Woman and Her Pig mentions a stile is that it was the custom in Great Britain to have them over fenced or low walled areas. Country land was used commonly. Meaning that folks were allowed to walk the land to get to where they were going, using any path that they wanted to follow even if it meant walking over private land. It was customary to do so. As I understand, it is still customary. No need to open any gates, which might be left open allowing animals to roam outside the property, just use the stiles to get over the fence or low wall.

I researched stiles online and came up with several interesting examples in Great Britain. None in the U.S.

STILE INTO OLD CHERRY ORCHARD -- GREAT BRITAIN
COPYRIGHT -PENY MAYES
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE

Stiles come in all different designs. Some very decorative and some very plain. There have been some that are very elaborate with dates and initials.

ARNOLD'S FARM STILE -- GREAT BRITAIN
COPYRIGHT DAVID STOWELL
CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE

The photographer that took the above photo explains it as follows -- "This particular stile is equipped with a lift up dog gate. The footpath associated with the stile heads straight across the field and the way has been marked by what appears to be tractor tracks."

As far as I have been able to research stiles, I would say that the U.S. might have only a few? It seems the idea of the commons has never taken hold in this country. Here, private property means just that -- private.

We adopted many of the English customs but this one we seemed to have overlooked.

I think we missed the boat on this custom as stiles offer charm and history to an area.

VERNACULAR -- SMALL TOWN COMMERCIAL GARAGE?

The town of Kirksville is a small quaint town -- so small it does not even have a post office. Yet it is filled with a few buildings and homes that read like all the small towns that existed before the agricultural and transportation world changed. Small towns once offered most of the services and goods needed by a community but now many struggle to survive.

Yet in Kirsville, one can still detect a vibrancy however on a different scale than before. Now, its homes are the heart of the town, while at one time the homes and commercial places worked in tandem providing the essence of the community.

One example of its former commercial buildings is the above wooden structure. I stopped and talked to several locals about the building and their remarks went something like this, , "it's a garage but I really can't say for sure as its been vacant as long as we can remember." So goes it with many structures from about one hundred years ago. What was their original use? What determined their original form?

The building's windows on both the first and second story are boarded. The false facade that if positioned atop the two level building no doubt held a sign announcing the type of business. False facades usually indicate that a building was built around the late 1800s through the early 1900s. The one level open space at the corner of the building could have been used for many activities. However it is barely tall enough to stand under.

When one spots these old buildings in the countryside or in small towns many questions arise and many ideas of use spring to mind. Maybe someday when I am back in Kirksville I will run into a person that will have an answer to what this building's use was originally. But in the mean time, persons out for a drive in the country can view this silvered-wood beauty and entertain thoughts of use and age.

OLD RURAL KENTUCKY FENCING

EARLY 1800s PROPERTY WITH ORIGINAL DRY STACKED LIMESTONE FENCING

Dry stacked fencing has a history reaching back into ancient times. In Kentucky its history of construction can travel as far back as the late 1700s -- believed to be built by slaves and/or Irish immigratnts. Kentucky's natural limestone beds have provided the resources to construct the beautiful fences. Today there is an effort to maintain what still exists through training by the Dry Stone Conservancy. Also an excellent researched book by Carolyn Murray-Wooley presents a fascinating history of the early years of building Kentucky's limestone fences. Unfortunately, of the hundreds of miles of fencing of this type in the state, much are in need of repair. It takes knowledgeable people to maintain them of which the Dry Stone Conservancy is working toward.

SPLIT-RAIL OR ZIG-ZAG TYPE OF FENCING, KENTUCKY
Source: city.data.com

Abe Lincoln was raised in Kentucky and was known as a rail splitter in his youth. Therefore, split-rail fencing has become associated with him. I picked this photo (above) off the internet and am not sure as to its age. Let's just say it is similar to what he might have made. I do not see old split rail fences, perhaps if I do I will post it. The split rail fences that I have seen are the Home Depot or Lowes newer types.

1800s PRIMITIVE COUNTRY PICKET FENCING

Crudely made fence posts arranged as precursors to the more polished type of picket fences are found in old photographs of Kentucky's early log homes. It reflects a "get by" existence that for either economic reasons or lack of appropriate tools served early settlers as well as fine fencing. Also referred to as paling fencing.

1931 MORTAR AND LIMESTONE MASON BUILT FENCING

This beautifully constructed fence is located in Central Kentucky. It is located on land that has been in one family going back to some of the earliest settlements in the area. Built as this country was falling fast into the Great Depression. The date 1931 is chiseled on the gate post. The mason that built the fence probably was grateful for the work.

REMAINING SECTION OF OLD PICKET FENCE ON ABANDONED PROPERTY

Many times I come across properties that have much of their cultural landscape missing. It might be the homestead house or a few outbuildings, etc. Here was a stand-alone fence. No trace of its position in its relevance to the landscape. If one looks carefully or enlarges the photo one can see the nicely turned tops of the pickets.

20TH CENTURY BOARD AND POST FENCING

Reaching into the 20th century one finds the board and post around many properties. Usually left in a natural state or perhaps with some white wash applied. With the cost of wood accelerating I assume that in the future these will become a thing of the past.

FOLK HOUSING -- TENANT OR SADDLEBAG?

Two Tenant Houses in Madison County, Kentucky.

Houses are built  fore and  aft on the property

Kentucky has been my home for about two years now. That makes me almost a native in my eyes. 

In the past I have traveled extensively in the states to experience various cultures. You might say that this country of ours is all one culture but as you travel and live in various regions with your antenna up you may discover that our country has many various cultures, all with a strong sense of place.

One mark of a culture is the houses it builds.

In Kentucky, where I presently live, I am exposed to various  types of vernacular architecture. Tenant houses and  saddlebag houses being but two types within this area.These two forms are similar. 

Tenant and Saddlebag can be confusing to label. Within this post is a description of the historical differences between the two.

The Saddlebag house and the Tenant house are very similar in construction. They are what is referred to generically as a two pen house or double pen, one room deep and two rooms wide. An easy signature of identifying both is that they often have two front doors. 

The Saddlebag 's exterior usually has two different building materials such as log on the original one room and weatherboarding on the one room addition. 

Tenant homes are usually built with board construction from early sawmills. Tenant houses grew out of the saddlebag design. From my observation, Central Kentucky extant tenant houses built in the early twentieth century are two rooms across and two rooms deep.   

Saddlebags have an interesting history of how they came about. Common Houses In America's Small Towns by Jakle, Bastian and Meyer claim that the houses were called saddlebag as they were originally one room wide houses and as the use expanded they added one room off to the side. This meant that the house now was two rooms wide along the front facade while still remaining one room deep. The addition was the "saddlebag." 

The saddlebag house has a center chimney and two fireplaces serving each room. Often they have two front doors. These particular houses in my part of central Kentucky reflect the settlement patterns of late 1700s to early 1900s. They exist yet they are disappearing from the landscape due to development or abandonment. Often the saddlebag's one room addition would be constructed of different material than the original one room house. An example being an original log one room house having a side room addition built with weatherboarding. 

Tenant House design grew out of the Saddlebag influence. The tenant house arrived in the late 1800's and continued through the early 1900s. They were originally built incorporating the two room width and either one or two rooms deep. They reflected the early Saddlebag by having a central flue, rather than a fireplace with a central chimney.  The flue serviced stoves in each room. Tenant house configuration imitated the Saddlebag by having double front doors.

Tenant or Saddlebag houses usually have a front porch with a roof extending out from the house roof line. Many times it was almost as wide as the front of the house. The front porch was a social place rather than a working place – working was reserved for the back of the house. The front porch provided a place to relax, view the landscape, sunsets or sun-ups, neighbors passing and most of all a place to cool off in the pre-air-conditioned days.

Rocking chairs were usually part of the front porch scene. Even today houses in central Kentucky retain the wide covered front porch along with several rocking chairs of both old and new vintage. And the rocking chairs are used -- not just an adornment.

Many Tenant houses in Central Kentucky have evolved from one room deep to two rooms deep. In Central Kentucky they usually have a skin of vertical wide boards, two rooms deep and two rooms wide, small to medium sized rooms, crawl spaces below, two windows on each side of the house, sometimes a back porch with roof overhead, side gable roof-line, usually one and a half story, roof of metal or wood shingles, center chimney or flue, two centered front doors flanked by a window on each side of a door.

The construction of many of these early1900s Tenant houses are called "box construction" or locally, "boxed." Click here for more about box construction techniques.

Although some researchers of vernacular housing feel that tenant housing was originally built for tenants there are some who claim Tenant houses were for folks seeking low cost housing. 

About once a week, I would ride by two Tenant houses that sat fore and aft on its rural landscape. The houses had been sided with gray shingles probably during the 30’s. Each house had two front doors. The house in the “fore” of the property had another set of two doors in the back of the house.

Recently, one of the two houses was torn down by the descendants of the original family that built and lived in them since the early 1900s. Their reason for taking them down was to make space for a new large mobile home. The one saving grace is that the wood and various parts of the housing were methodically saved for building a small church by some of the owner's family. A photo of the two original tenant houses is located at the top of this post.

With the razing of one of the houses and a soon scheduled razing of the remaining -- a part of the feeling of this historic landscape will disappear.

Close up of Madison County Kentucky Tenant Home.

Vernacular historic houses have been overlooked as important features of the landscape to save. However, vernacular houses overall play an important role in giving us a sense of the cultural ways in which people lived.
VISIT MY OTHER POSTS ON FOLK HOUSING -- CLICK BELOW:

VERNACULAR MOUNTAIN HOME

HISTORIC BOX CONSTRUCTION VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

QUILT SQUARES ON BARNS

CLOSE-UP --SUMMER BREEZE STAR -- QUILT SQUARE PATTERN

This is my second post on quilt squares. This post features only barns while my first featured quilt squares on buildings in Berea, Kentucky. In Madison county quilt squares are an individual pattern painted on wood usually by members of the community on a volunteer basis. The local electrical company hoists the squares pro-bono onto barns and commercial buildings. For my other post that has more images of quilt squares click here. For more information on Madison county's squares you can contact Madison County Extension or Kentucky Arts Council

BARN WITH SUMMER BREEZE PATTERN LOCATED 4 MILES FROM BEREA, KENTUCKY

BARN WITH HIGH POINT STAR PATTERN -- 3.5 MILES FROM BEREA, KENTUCKY

CLOSE UP OF HIGH POINT STAR PATTERN

UNKNOWN PATTERN ON BARN IN CARTERSVILLE, KENTUCKY

UNKNOWN PATTERN JUST OUTSIDE BEREA, KENTUCKY

Post Photos by Barbara, folkways notebook

CLICK ON MY POSTS BELOW FOR MORE QUILTS AND QUILT SQUARES:

QUILT BLOCK SQUARE -- SCHOOL HOUSE PATTERN

KENTUCKY QUILT 1885 WITH PROVENANCE

HISTORIC BOX CONSTRUCTION -- VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

GENE'S "BOXED" CONSTRUCTED HOUSE -- FRONT VIEW

Fifty years ago Gene built the above home for his new bride and himself to live in and start a family. Built in the rural hills of Madison County, Kentucky, it was a beautiful place to start a life together.

Gene was young and was just getting into the tree servicing business. He built the home himself out of recycled old wood that belonged to his father. His father was a builder but on occasion tore down old buildings and recycled the wood. Gene selected mostly white oak from his father's stockpile to build his home.

Gene learned how to build a Box type house from his father. His father was a local builder of homes in the Box type of construction. A local term that Gene and his father used rather than Box was "boxed." Click here for construction techniques.

Another type similar to the Box type of construction is the Box and Strip construction type. With the latter, one uses one by three or one by four vertical strips and are nailed over the cracks of the vertical exterior boards.

BACK OF GENE'S "BOXED" HOUSE

Basically the Box construction method is to establish a square wooden foundation with floor joists then covered with wooden flooring. The walls are nailed vertically to the sides of the foundation and a ceiling plate is nailed to secure the top of the vertical boards. There are no studs. A roof is usually a gable constructed type.

This type of construction can be traced back to the continent. It is an easy and efficient way to establish housing.

Gene and his family lived in this house for 13 years. The first two years they did not have electricity nor water. Water was available from two springs further up the hill so they walked up the hill constantly to get their water. Sometimes Gene hauled it in from other sources. It was a double pen house at first -- two rooms wide and one deep. Later, Gene added an addition to the back of the house which has since been torn down.

They had six children in this house when Gene built a large ranch house on his property. He stills lives in the ranch house and is still active in a successful tree servicing business after being in it for 51 years.

Post Photos by barbara, FOLKWAYS NOTEBOOK

OUTHOUSE, WASH LINE, AND BARN

VIEWING SITES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
ESTILL COUNTY, KENTUCKY

PAINT LICK VERNACULAR I-HOUSE

PAINT LICK VILLAGE TAKEN FROM IKE AND EVA'S I-HOUSE ON THE HILL

Last week, after several days of overcast weather, and finally, today the sun was shining, I decided to spin out to the historic small village of Paint Lick, Kentucky. The unincorporated town sits among picturesque farms and homes while the Paint Lick Creek runs along one of its boundaries. Truly, a charming place to live. Paint Lick is located in Garrard County which has a population of 3000 plus residents. The pollution factor is almost nonexistent with it being declared in the top 20% cleanest counties in the U. S.

My first stop was at Rick's restaurant. The restaurant was neat, clean, and friendly with locals sitting at various tables. It reminded me of small- town restaurants when I was young.

I was looking for someone to tell me about the early house I had spotted on the hill as I rode into town. It looked abandoned yet intriguing with history wrote all over it. Fortunately, Dottie, the wait-staff person, that I talked to initially, steered me right to the owner of the house. He was enjoying some coffee at one of the oil-clothed tables and is a regular at Ricks. After Dottie introduced me to Ike Burnnett I sat down with him for an engaging conversation and coffee.

He told me that he had lived in Rockcastle County at one time but moved to Paint Lick along with his wife, Eva Mae, in 1979. At that time they bought and still own the I-House (the house on the hill) yet, he now lives in a newer house near town with his wife of 58 years. Pre-retirement he had worked at Berea College as a supervisor of the Wood Craft department training students in the old skills of making early American and colonial furniture plus old timey small items such as skittle games. He said when he worked there they began every production with raw wood that had to be dried in kilns at the college. Today they start with already dried wood for their craft program.

IKE AND EVA'S I-HOUSE

The early I-House once had belonged to the Campbell family. At that time it was a homestead of a few hundred acres but when the Burnnett's bought it the size had shrunk to three acres. It sits on a hilltop with a view of the village and Paint Lick Creek.

Above is a side view of the house with its side gable ends as is usual with I-Houses. The very earliest of I-Houses in Kentucky do not have windows in the gable end. The house's exterior material is weatherboard (wood). Ike's hilltop house has a two-story back ell that he said is where they spent most of their time while they lived in the house. The ell has a fireplace that he used to keep stoked to stay warm.

The front part of the house has two fireplaces, one at each end of the gable, each being interior, only the chimney stacks on the roof hint that there are fireplaces in the house. Overall, there are three fireplaces. Ike enjoyed the house while he lived there, planting a garden every season. I asked Ike for permission to drive up the hill and take photos of the house. Of course, he being a very congenial man, quickly said "yes" to my request.

ROOT CELLAR ENTRANCE

The drive up the hill is over a narrow dirt lane. Its climb is steep and a bit curvy. When I first got out of the car, up by the house, I thought of copperheads as that is Kentucky's native snake that loves to sun itself and it was sunny. It was apparent this ground had not been walked on for a while so I watched where I stepped. And I stepped hard as ground motion scares them away.

The first thing I spotted around the back of the house was the ruins of a very old root cellar -- reached by about 30 to 40 steps from the back ell doorway. Its side banks were stacked limestone rocks. It had seen better days but was surely used by early inhabitants. Now it is slowly caving in on itself.

I reminded myself to stay on what looked like the used pathway around the house. Old wells can send you flying to the depths of hell and, when you are alone -- who knows where you are if you fall in? This happened to an acquaintance of mine one time and she still carries the scars on her legs.

GREEK REVIVAL-TYPE FRONT ENTRANCE WAY

This is a photo that is only the top half of the front doorway. Lots of stuff was piled up toward the bottom half that got in the way of the photo so I just include the top in this photo. The door reflects the early Greek Revival style of architecture with side pilasters and side lights. Earlier, Ike had given me a construction date of around 1830s for the house. My calculation as to the type of house this was -- a vernacular I-House with Greek Revival influences.

SECOND STORY ELL WINDOW -- ORIGINAL SIX OVER SIX LIGHTS

Here is a better look of the exterior weatherboard construction. Also, the six over six lights (glass panes) that place them into the 1800s.

This house has many secrets, I'm sure, as it has lived such a long life. Over time, from its hilltop site, it has viewed a devastating fire in Paint Lick and a flood on Paint Lick Creek that wiped out the bridge over the river. It has experienced different families and surely laughter and sadness. I felt something up there that day on the hill that was very peaceful -- it is a place I hope to return to and attempt to sort out some of its many pieces.

COUNTRY POST OFFICE

I happened to be out in the countryside last fall and noticed this building at a T in the road. Here I was in Kentucky glacing at this building which made me feel like I was back in the Southwest. The architecture was reflective of the Southwest yet here it was in the Upland South.

It was old and empty and showed signs that it had been that way for awhile. Across the front of the high false facade I read United States Post Office but I couldn't make out the name of this particular post office. Since I was out in a rather desolate part of the countryside (except for several large horse farms) there was no one near to ask.

This particular post office could have been originally used for some other business, then changed over to accommodate the post office use. Several questions about the building left me scratching my head. The southwest design was especially perplexing? The roof was oxidized metal, the false facade had a multiple stepped design up its side and the full-length front porch had peeled log uprights, all these traits were much like the buildings one might find in New Mexico.

I lived for a short period in Glorieta, New Mexico I was out in the mountains. No mail delivery -- you had to go to the post office to pick-up your mail. The Glorieta post office was a tiny old building that was once a railroad station. It sat along a rail line that still operated but did not stop any longer in Glorieta. This was the place where you got to know who your neighbors were. Instead of photos of criminals on the walls you had neighborhood announcements such as a dogs for sale, car sales, community picnics, rummage sales etc. Made me feel safe that the Glorieta post office didn't feel the need to post the criminals.

Perhaps, at one time, this Kentucky post office located at the T on a country road served the same purpose for the surrounding community in the hills? A place to gather, say hello, catch up on gossip or happenings in the area? Perhaps here there was no need for criminal's photos either?

Now is stands abandoned -- a desolate look to it. If this Kentucky post office place did serve the community at one time, like the Glorieta post office did for me, where did its sense of place go off to?

In my future haunts I will keep a look out for these vernacular buildings that serve as post offices. I have several questions about those that are no longer and those that still are working establishments.

Are you familiar with any of these types of off-beat post offices where you live? Would be great to hear about them.