OLD
FOUNDATION IN LINCKLAEN
Donald
A. Windsor
Here
is a photo of a stone foundation in the Lincklaen State Forest in its
eponymous town. It is located on the east side of Hyer Road, just
south of Springer Road. I took this photo on our Bullthistle hike
Sunday 4 September 2016.
Notice
that all four of its walls are caved in. This cellar hole is
becoming a dimple in the forest floor. The usual process of
disintegration is that the northern wall caves in first. The winter
sun melts the ice in and behind it and then the water refreezes at
night. This repetitive freezing and thawing ultimately collapses the
wall. Next to come down are the east and west walls. Finally, the
south wall caves in. The process is similar to folding up a donut
box. The cellar hole becomes overgrown with vegetation and becomes
camouflaged.
The
1855 map labels this foundation as belonging to H.C. Burdick. The
1863 map shows it as H.D. Burdick. Burdick is a common name in this
area. Burdick Settlement, now Lincklaen Center, is up the road
northerly about 2 miles. The Burdicks moved here in 1804 (Smith).
The 1875 map has it as H.P. Marble. This foundation was probably
built in the 1840s so it has been there for over a century and a
half.
As a
caveat, these maps were not drawn to an exact scale, so jumping from
one to another is not an exact action, especially when there are name
changes. House sites could remain constant but the houses could have
been totally rebuilt.
Chenango
County has many old foundations and the one featured here is just an
example. Each foundation represents its own story. Unfortunately,
most of these stories have vanished.
Reference
cited:
Smith,
James H. History of Chenango County. 1880. Page 483.
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