The Crook Farm and Schoolhouse

On a recent drive through PA, we stopped at the Crook Farm in Bradford,PA and took the following pictures of the old homestead.

The Crook Farm, a National Heritage Site, stands where it was constructed in 1847 in a beautiful rural setting located at Seaward Avenue Extension, Bradford, PA.

You will enjoy a walk back in time as you tour the 19th century restored farm house, barn, one-room schoolhouse, herb garden, tool house, train depot and outbuildings.

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......

Old Homestead

This classy old homestead like so many others across NY state sits abandoned along the highway in the town of Italy Valley,NY. New York like so many other states has a great number of old houses just setting in disrepair, abandoned in time due to loss of jobs or being foreclosed.  These beautiful old homes are just being left to rot to the ground.....

The old Billsboro store

The old Billsboro store stands on the corner of Billsboro road in the berg of Billsboro,NY. My wife remembers, as a kid, she used to go there with her grandparents and it was stocked with ice cream treats and the best all day suckers ever.  

When we are kids, somehow we always think things will be there forever.  Then when we grow up we realize that isn't so.  

I could not find any vintage pictures of this place as a working store.  It's as if it has been forgotten and I suppose when all of us are gone, it will be remembered no more.  What a shame. 

The Octagon House

This Octagon house is located in Hammondsport,NY and was built in 1859 by Timothy Younglove one of the founders of the Pleasant Valley Winery. This old house was completely

renovated and turned into a Bed & Breakfast and features  five guest rooms. It is now called the Black Sheep Inn. Rates for a nights stay range from $150 to $240 per night. 

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.