Farm life in America was hard, the tools were basic. From the simplicity of an agricultural existence close to the land, America has grown into a complex, technological country. But, our dependence on the earth is still as vital.
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This is the foundation and remains of the barn owned by Mr. Burton in the 1800’s and the Lashaway family in the early 1900’s.
During the 1800’s, the barn held 15 milk cows. The family that worked the farm raised 500 turkeys, 200 sheep, pigs, horses and chickens. The farm was relatively self-sufficient. The work was done with teams of horses or by hand. Ice was cut from Lake Champlain each winter and was stored in an icehouse. Cow stanchions mark where cows were once milked. Butter was churned here. Many sheep were probably shorn of their coats right where you stand.
All farm produce was taken to a St. Albans market either across the reef or drawn across the ice in the winter.
(cow stanchion)
Traces of the farm are quickly vanishing beneath the flourish of thickets and sumac.
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The family managing the farm lived in the house above the foundations. The children went to school in St. Albans and travelled by boat or over ice almost every day. In the spring, when the ice was too thin to walk on but too thick for boats, it was necessary for children to board with friends on the mainland.