In the middle of August we went away for the weekend to Oroville with some friends and since the weather wasn’t stellar, we visited a ghost town. (And I apparently forgot to post about it.)
Morgan looked very comfortable in the town and I’m sure would have fared well in the town’s heyday though the closest thing to a computer we saw was a typewriter.
Leah looked pretty at home as well chilling out on the steps of this one room, 1908 homestead cabin.
Here he is on the nursery stock planter.
Leah checking out the cool wheelbarrow. She loves our wheelbarrow too though I am not totally sure what the draw is.
I love this picture with the moss and the funky wheels. I would love to see them design and create the intricacies that make a piece of equipment come together. (Please ignore the telephone wires in the background.)
Is it a train? Is it a car? No, it’s a funky tractor.
They seemed to have a machine or attachment for everything. This is Leah hanging out on the corn planter which would go behind the tractor.
Here she is having a party on the corn planter.
I was amazed by their machines and the amount of creativity and work to engineer them. A simple log cutter powered by a horse had a big saw welded on to a handle of a gear which was connected to another gear which in turn attached to a spool wound up with rope. This rope would have been attached to a horse and as the horse moved walked the saw would rigidly go up and down. I guess when you are putting excessive amounts of time into performing the same hard tasks over and over, you have time to think about time and energy saving measures.
There was also the original school house which has been made into a museum showcasing the town that was flourishing in the early 1900’s but almost faded away just as quickly as it’s rise to fame. The town’s welcome sign is changed with population fluctuations and is currently boasting thirty five hardy residents.
Here is a classroom set up just like it would have been in 1906.
Talking to a ninety year old lady that grew up in Molson and attended the original schoolhouse was a delight as these treasured stories will soon fade away with no one to carry their amazing history and legacy. She now currently resides just outside of Molson in a nursing home but commented on the return away from the busy life and the trend to come back to country. Whereas city life was once seen as exciting and luring, now people are longing for the tranquility and peace which once was seen as a bore.
Though I will continue on my canning, sewing, cloth diapering, laundry hanging, gardening days, I still am happy with our city and balance where we currently live. I am definitely nowhere near as hardcore as those women and families back then and enjoy the conveniences we have today, I love learning their deep history and think we can learn many, many things from the way they lived and values they held dear.
yep. although we aim high, we are not nearly as hard core as you had to be 100 years ago.