The Knox house, Coudersport,PA

Vintage picture

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This old Italian  Villa style home was owned by F.W. Knox who was a prominent businessman in Coudersport and President of the Coudersport & Port Allegany Railroad. Mr Know was born in 1824 and died in 1884.

                               Picture from the 1970's

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Many years later the house was turned into a bar and hotel called the "Old Hickory" and was open for over thirty years before falling vacant again. It is said that famous Prohibition Agent Elliot Ness used to hang out here.

                          Vintage picture from the 1990's

The house was boarded up and left to the elements.

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This picture was taken by me in the summer of 2009 on one of our trips and was used as the backdrop for one of our books....

The William Goff house 1830

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This old house was built in 1830 by William Goff near what is now the town of Howard,NY. Mr Goff was born in 1780 and settled here around 1802, behind this house in 1812 he built a brick kiln and mill on on the creek that is now called Goff's creek. The house and grounds is now a museum and pottery shop open during the summer months for all to enjoy.

If houses could talk

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There is something about old houses that fascinate me. Driving through the country of NY I came upon this old house along the road in the town of Franklinville,NY.
If old houses could talk think of the stores they could tell. An old chair on the porch where mom used to set, the toys in the yard where the kids once played, the old abandoned cars that once took them to town.  

Now abandoned for whatever reason.  What a shame to see once loved and cared for homes left to the elements.  Now fading into the ground.  So many people in need of housing yet all across America, once good, usable houses sitting to rot.  It's too bad there isn't a way to somehow fix them all up and help families in need enjoy them.  Recent statistics show that now, in America, the abandoned homes outnumber the number of homeless people.  

The old house on Seneca Lake

Sitting on the hill overlooking Seneca Lake in the town of Dresden,NY. is this beautiful old home.

                         
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This old house was built in 1830 by Christopher Willis and has sit many,many years vacant. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Although it is privately owned it still sits all alone. It is still filled with belongings of the ones who lived there such a long time ago. Some say it is haunted with spirits of the past. Such a shame to see it sit and rot to the ground.................

Old Schools

The age of modern times and new schools have left these old schools to sit abandoned falling down and boarded up as a reminder of the times past

With communities trying to save taxpayer money, schools merge and yet, somehow, the taxes still increase.  But now residents of towns have to pay for the new buildings.

Larger class rooms make it more difficult for those students needing extra help.  Was the old way bad?  Probably not, as many of us who grew up in smaller, more personal, schools will tell you, we still feel we were given a much better education.  We will miss you, old schools!

The following pictures I took on some of my travels across the state.

#1 This one was taken in the town of Salamanca,NY.
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#2 This one was taken in the town of Bradford,PA.
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My old high school,KLONDIKE HIGH,  W. Lafayette,Indiana
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AJ's Motel

The word Motel was coined in 1925 and referred to a type of hotel consisting of a single building of connected rooms whose doors faced a parking lot, aka. motor inn,motor courts. As the U.S. highway system began to develop in the mid 20’s long distance travel became more common and the need for inexpensive, easily accessible overnight accommodation close to the main routs led to the growth of the motel concept.  Motels peaked in the 1960’s with rising car travel only to decline with coming of the new chain hotels. Today few of these old motels exist any longer.  Here is one example of such a motel that has  been sitting vacant since the early 80’s called AJ's Motel, it sits along a stretch of highway 16 in the town of Hinsdle,NY as a remembrance of times past……….

Old Motel DeSoto

The old De Soto Motel sets on the outskirts of Olean,NY, in its days it was a grand little Motel with swimming pool in the center courtyard. I stayed here many times in my travels across the state. The Motel was built in the 1940's and closed in 2008 due to all the new fancy Motels that were built in the area. Now it just sits abandoned to time growing up in weeds.......

The Old Farm

This once thriving farm like so many across New York state has been abandoned  so now this big old barn just sets lost to another era and time. It's such a shame to see these beautiful old barns rotting to the ground today and the fields all grown up with weeds.

Old Erie Railroad Station

The old Erie Railroad Station located in the town of Salamanca,NY was built in 1904 and served many people through the years before being abandoned in the 1980's. It now sits rotting to the ground like so many others across the country. Our past history is slowly slipping away......

Rural living in New York

The old mansion on a hill in Naples, New York.  This house, like so many others in rural New York, is abandoned.  People seem to feel building a new structure is cheaper than fixing up the old ones.  Preserving our past does not seem to be a sought after endeavor any longer.

Where will America be if all of her buildings and all of her past, are allowed to deteriorate and fall into decay?

Starting this picture page, I am hoping to help all of us remember when craftsmanship and beauty in building meant something.  When builders were artists and when they took much pride in what they constructed.  This is the first picture in what I hope to be a long and continuing series of how rural New Yorker's have lived and in some cases, still do live.  I hope you enjoy.