A road sign drew us up a tiny hollow yesterday as we took the long way home from Doddridge County, WV. Such side trips usually yield jewels, and this one was no exception. Old homesteads, quiet rural scenes that seemed in some cases to be from 100 years ago were our gift this day.
This lovely, well-kept and obviously at one time a working homestead provided its own food and fuel, and most likely a good income as well in its heyday. I especially liked the picket fence--in older times, farmers fenced a small yard which was maintained with mowing, flowers, etc, and the rest was farm. It minimized upkeep on the grounds and maximized the usefulness of surrounding land for farming use.
Log barns were not usually notched as carefully as log homes. You can see the notching on this barn, while sturdy, was not done with that same attention and care that the dovetailed corners of log homes I've pictured in other posts. Still, it's sturdy and serves its purpose, just as it did when it was built, probably 100 years or more ago.
I learned after we got home that this part of Doddridge county was settled by German immigrants, and that was not surprising in view of the neatly kept homes we saw in the area. The farms were immaculate, and over all, a deep country quiet. This little place looks like it may have been a school at one time.
This is just one of the homeplaces we saw. All the outbuildings attest to this having been one busy working farm that was probably self-sufficient too.
More about the area in my next post. As for yesterday's storytelling? That's yet another post. It was a very good day.
I grew up in Doddridge County and loved to explore the side and back roads. Thanks so much for taking me home with this post.
ReplyDeleteI love driving old back roads and finding places such as these. It makes you wonder who lived there in the olden days and just what their life was like back then.
ReplyDeleteHey Granny Sue!
ReplyDeleteI too love going out old roads like that to see what you can see. We don't do that much now like we used to because the kids don't really like it as much as we do. I really want to go on a road trip even though I have so many things that I need to do at home. I just love exploring West Virginia and all that it has to offer!
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Angela
Steve, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Doddridge is beautiful country, with some surprisingly good farmland tucked out of sight.
ReplyDeleteI wish we had more time for exploring, Angela and Jessica. Well, actually...I'd do more but usually Larry is driving and he gets tired of turning around and going back when I see something interesting. I can't blame him, but in this case, I'll tell you what we missed in today's post. Now we have to go back :)
My dad owned property on the other side of yours on little buck run. I loved finding this just now. Thank you for the flood of memories and sorry for any injured dogs. They were crazy chasing after cars! Lol
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