Two Sites on East Catamount Road in Colrain

 Pictures of two old House Sites on Catamount Hill in Colrain.

Off in the woods of western Mass there are lots of abandoned roads with old house foundations
Colrain has "Catamount Hill" with several miles of old roads. On April 20 2034 Sarah and I found two nice sites.


East Catamount Road ends, for cars, at the old "G. Cary" house  sites.


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Just before the turn-around , on the left in this picture, is the  "G. Cary" site seen on the 1858 & 1871 maps (1858 map seen above.)

I don't know much about this farm, but the foundations are large,










 
 
Maps tell us that buildings on these two Cary sites may have been  standing into the 1970s.  Two dots appear on the 1945 and 1961 and 1977  USGS maps.  The "Tolman" map excerpt is taken from the Davenport "Puzzle of Catamount Hill" booklet.




Just past the two Cary foundations, the town has a turn-arouns, where we parked my truck.

The steel gate is not locked. Nevertheless , we walked, as we expected the road beyond would not be driveable.



The brook shown on the 1858 map is a 3' wide flowing stream in April.

 
The brook crosses 2 stone walls, each with a stone header to let the water flow.  Are these the original `170+  year old arches ?  Probably...



Town roads were commonly "laid out" 3 rods wide , or 49.5'.

This little creature shared the road with us today.

An old-timer would call this road a bit "boney". 

 
There is an even larger house & barn site at the end of a 1/4 mile spur road leading north from Old East Catamount Hill Road. Here is the 1871 "Beers" map.  "A. Shippee" refers to Amasa Shippee, who lived here with his wife Rhoda and several children.
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This foundation is huge - herhaps 100' long.

I noticed that Maps as recent as the 1977 USGS map show the Amasa Shippee lands being open. The same open area is shown, slightly differently, on the 1945 and 1961 USGS maps. Does that mean mowing of hay, or just regular logging?



So I got two aerial photos covering the G. Cary & A. Shippee sites.  Sure enough, the Amasa Shippee site is quite open, perhaps a mowing. The 1977 map is added to help you understand the Aerial area.


In the 1940 aerial we can see a Cary building at the left edge of the large clearing. Note the apple trees, some of which are gone by the time of the 1958 aerial.



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