forums
new posts
donate
UER Store
events
location db
db map
search
members
faq
terms of service
privacy policy
register
login




UER Forum > Archived US: South > Lonely old homestead (Viewed 422 times)
dwtaylor999 


Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Lonely old homestead
< on 8/23/2011 9:20 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Since it's been a tad bit warm, I've been digging though my old stuff, trying to find something not to hideously boring to post. I came across this in the early spring..

This old homestead is somewhat interesting because of it's historical ties. Built after the Oklahoma land run of 1893, this was a true pioneer home, consisting of a single room built from local field stone and included a hand dug well, cellar, and cedar shake roof. Heat and cooking would have been from a wood stove and lighting from "coal oil" lamps.




Located in extreme northern Pawnee county, the homestead was located on a ridge overlooking the rich Arkansas river bottom, with the river only a mile or so away.




The home was never "modernized", i.e. no indoor plumbing or electricity. Other than generators, electricity wouldn't become available in the rural communities until the creation of the rural electric cooperatives under the "New Deal" in the late 30's.




There were improvements, such as cementing the well and adding a steel cap. Old oil field pipe was used to build a sturdy clothes line and a shed/barn of wood and early tin was also built behind the home.










I found an elderly lady who was born and raised in the area, now in her very late 80's, who was pretty sure the home was abandoned in the early 1930's during the worst of the dust bowl and Great Depression. She remembered as a young girl many of their "neighbors" packing everything they had onto their cars and simply leaving.











These abandoned properties were eventually seized by the county for back taxes and auctioned off. There was a perceptible sense the sadness that hung over the place.








This simple structure is a physical embodiment of the land run, dust bowl, and Great Depression. The homestead represents an incredible amount of labor and hardship to build a life, only to end up having to walk away.





Ruins, the fate of all cities.
barefootpoetry 


Location: PA
Gender: Female




Send Private Message | Send Email | My Flickr
Re: Lonely old homestead
<Reply # 1 on 8/23/2011 11:46 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Good photos, heartbreaking story.

She who hesitates, sees bulldozers.
Imbroglio 


Location: DFW
Gender: Male


The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Send Private Message | Send Email | Noel Kerns Photography
Re: Lonely old homestead
<Reply # 2 on 8/23/2011 11:53 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by barefootpoetry
Good photos, heartbreaking story.


Agreed...your documentation of these places is always captivating.

http://www.noelkernsphotography.com
Raticus 

Moderator


Location: Tyler
Gender: Male


Ratus exploricus abandonae

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Lonely old homestead
<Reply # 3 on 8/25/2011 3:31 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by dwtaylor999

The homestead represents an incredible amount of labor and hardship to build a life, only to end up having to walk away.



I agree with the others. I love the way you document these stories. You bring them to life every time. And this quote above is so true, then and now.

And while I do realize that some of the stories happening currently are self inflicted from "over extending", many of them aren't. Some good, hard working, honest people, are simply loosing everything they've worked for all their life. This story really reflects the hard times a lot of families have faced in the past, and some are facing now.

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something.
UER Forum > Archived US: South > Lonely old homestead (Viewed 422 times)



All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 78 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 736973198 pages have been generated.