Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Monday, May 18, 2020
Pam's temperature blankets
Pam has been working on a crochet project in which the color of each row corresponds to either the high or the low temperature of the day. There are two blankets, one for high temperatures and one for the low, and she selected a different color for each interval of eight degrees of temperature:
Sunday, May 17, 2020
More on Valley Mill plus a historic house
A few days ago I stopped by to study the historical makers about Valley Mill in order to get some idea of its location and to try to determine if the nearby brick house is the same one referenced on one of the markers. While I was there, a young man came out of the house. He turned out to be a friendly guy who was a park policeman who rented the house from the county. He verified that it was the same house mentioned on the historical marker and that it was built in 1793.
I brought up that the marker also said that the foundation for the mill still existed and asked him if he knew where I could find these remains. He said he didn't know, but I thanked him before he went on to work.
His information was helpful to me because he verified the house was the same one as the one in the photo taken in the 1930's which was reproduced on one of markers. Since the house and the mill appeared to be close by in the photo, I snooped around the property after he left. I found stacked stones mostly hidden by vegetation, and I think it's likely the stones were what's left of the foundation although I suppose they could have been part of a stone fence.
Soon after I retired, Pam and I took a course on the archeology of Montgomery County. I remember from the course that the database of designated archeological sites in Maryland was difficult to get authorization to access because the state didn't want people disturbing the sites and removing artifacts. That's okay because doing the detective work yourself can be satisfying.
I brought up that the marker also said that the foundation for the mill still existed and asked him if he knew where I could find these remains. He said he didn't know, but I thanked him before he went on to work.
His information was helpful to me because he verified the house was the same one as the one in the photo taken in the 1930's which was reproduced on one of markers. Since the house and the mill appeared to be close by in the photo, I snooped around the property after he left. I found stacked stones mostly hidden by vegetation, and I think it's likely the stones were what's left of the foundation although I suppose they could have been part of a stone fence.
Soon after I retired, Pam and I took a course on the archeology of Montgomery County. I remember from the course that the database of designated archeological sites in Maryland was difficult to get authorization to access because the state didn't want people disturbing the sites and removing artifacts. That's okay because doing the detective work yourself can be satisfying.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
A vacant building with family memories
Over the past few years I must have passed this structure hundreds of times without giving it a thought. On a walk with my friend Kurt a few weeks ago, he spotting it and recognized it as the bathhouse for a public pool that once was there.
The foreground of the photo is where the actual pool stood, and I was shocked to realize how small it had been, smaller than many backyard pools. Maybe it was the small size that made people frequent the larger county pools because there never seemed to be much of a crowd when we brought our family there. I remember having fun in that little pool on summer's days though and was disappointed when the county closed it.
The archeological activity that not long ago took place associated with the mills on Paint Branch makes me wonder if a future archeologist might discover buried remains of that pool.
The foreground of the photo is where the actual pool stood, and I was shocked to realize how small it had been, smaller than many backyard pools. Maybe it was the small size that made people frequent the larger county pools because there never seemed to be much of a crowd when we brought our family there. I remember having fun in that little pool on summer's days though and was disappointed when the county closed it.
The archeological activity that not long ago took place associated with the mills on Paint Branch makes me wonder if a future archeologist might discover buried remains of that pool.
The pond on Saturday
Although much of the mid-day was taken up by a zoom internet reunion of high school friends, I got out for my usual morning walk and again in the afternoon. I think it must have been during the afternoon walk that I took this picture of the pond. It was windy that day.
Monday, May 11, 2020
Valley Mill
A few weeks ago when I posted of mills that once operating along Paint Branch, I was vaguely aware that there must have been a Valley Mill because that is the name of a section of the park. Along the trail that runs by the stream, there were makers for two mills, Snowden and Edmonton, but nothing else. Recently, however, in a part of the park a short distance from the trail, I found a two markers for Valley Mill, the last mill to operate along the stream.
The photo on the upper right of the marker was taken in the 1930's, a few years after the mill closed down, and shortly before the structure was torn down.
The second maker explains how the mill was constructed in 1879 although these local mills were already in the process of being driven out of business by the large, consolidated mills in the Midwest.
The markers make references to a brick house built in 1793 that was associated with the mills that operated along Paint Branch. Unfortunately, they aren't specific as to whether the house to the right of the above marker is that house.
The photo on the upper right of the marker was taken in the 1930's, a few years after the mill closed down, and shortly before the structure was torn down.
The second maker explains how the mill was constructed in 1879 although these local mills were already in the process of being driven out of business by the large, consolidated mills in the Midwest.
The markers make references to a brick house built in 1793 that was associated with the mills that operated along Paint Branch. Unfortunately, they aren't specific as to whether the house to the right of the above marker is that house.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Friday, May 1, 2020
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