New England stone walls...

Dear Diary,

I love just about everything about New England but I would place stone walls high on the "favorite" list.  You cannot drive down any rural country road around here and not see these piles of stone lining the way.  When they did a survey back in the 1930's it was determined that there were about 400,000 miles of them!  Now, perhaps only 200,000 miles remain.

This is about 1/3 mile of them at Narramissic Farm in Bridgton, Maine.  Once the home of the Peabody-Fitch family which built the original farm in 1797, it is now own by the Bridgton Historical Society.  When I stopped by there was a group of volunteers' cleaning up the wall, cutting back the growth and righting any toppled stones.  You can just see a red jacket of one of the volunteers way down the drive.

There is also a wonderful old barn on the property, extra shot, that has an amazing cut granite foundation.  The society is working hard to stabilize and restore the structure which was built in the 1830's.  The small stones between the granite slabs were used to level the barn.  It is called a "temperance" barn because when it was completed the men building it were not offered the customary keg of rum.  There is a good write up about the property here if you are interested.

 Narramissic is an Abenaki word which means "hard to find".  A former owner of the property named it that and it is a fitting description of the 200 acre property.  Once you do find your way there you have a great view to the north of the White Mountains which you can see in the distance of this photograph.  It was a beautiful day to experience this landscape and see a bit of New England history being lovingly tended.