I have no interesting stories, just these: My house had the first in-ground pool in the town, ca. 1920. It was tiny by any measure- like 16ft square. It was poured concrete with a brick coping. I found one corner of it while digging a garden bed.
My house was moved back from the street by 20 feet about 1905. The rear wall of the foundation (from 1850's) became the front wall, and a new kitchen/bedroom wing was constructed. This was revealed through looking at the sanborn fire insurance maps, not word-of-mouth.
Casey

I heard there was a bomb scare in my house. A few owners ago I've been told were druggies and there was a bust or something here and a grenade was found in the house. Turns out it was a fake, but the LEOs didn't know that at the time. So its not an old story from the early years of my house, but a story none-the-less.
I never met the previous owners, so I couldn't ask them anything about the house.

I've been told our house was part of the Underground Railway.

I've been told the hole in the dining room floor was caused by a man trying to commit suicide with a gun.

I've been told when the place was selling antiques that old ladies would come in their limos and fight over the treasures for sale inside.

I've been told the Rev. that lived here use to hide his booze in one of the secret panels.

I've been told that during the Sullivan/Clinton campaign agaist the Indians that the soliders found out very quickly that cannon fire did not work well when fighting Indians so the soldiers were ordered to get rid of the cannon. They buried it, many believe on our property somewhere.

Indians use to use our backyard as a camping ground when they would hunt and fish in the area. Of all the stories we've been told this is the only one that has produced soild proof as being true. I've found sinkers made of stonethey were used to hold the fishing nets in the water, old ax heads and grinding tools made of stone and even a few pieces of jewerly that were made of stone....lots of arrowheads.

Around here the Indians made many stops along streams to camp .We too found arrow heads near the stream.You also find arrow heads in farmers fields.If you serch after they plow you usually find a few.

Our home was originally an Indian allotment. If were to you dig around, you wouldn't find any arrowheads, but you might find a disc, or part of an old horse drawn rake or maybe even an old plow. (These Indians were farmers, not hunter/gatherers.) The better digging is in the old dumps; lots of swell bottles and old graniteware.

Actually, the house had been built on another part of the 160 acres, but sometime in the late 20's, or at least by 1930 the porches were partially dismantled and the whole house was moved to it's present location closer to the road.

There's a small building in one corner of the yard that became the Grandpa's tinkering shed. I learned that Indian homes "back in the day" almost always had a similar little structure built as a birthing house. I'm not sure if anyone was born in this one, because by the time the house was moved, the children were well past infancy, but then again, they moved the big house, why wouldn't they have moved the little house too? The surviving sister is over 75, and was too young to remember exactly when the house was moved.

All but that one member of the original family is buried out back in the family cemetery, which sits in a clearing in the woods just east of what's left of the old stacked stone foundation. Most of the graves are marked, but there are three of those traditional grave houses that have fallen in that are not. My Grandson and I go (with permission) once a year to trim back limbs, cut down saplings and generally tidy it up a bit.

I also know that S.J., the last original family member to have lived in the house, was a confirmed batchelor until he was 65, when he married a local widow. (Better late than never.) They lived together happily until he passed away in 2000, and she moved not far from here back to the house she shared with her first husband on his family's allotment.

>At this point, the cheerful background music turns somber and the story develops a somber tone. As I've heard it, a local businessman had some kind of agreement/contract with S.J. to buy the place after he died. I'm guessing it was one of those pay now, take posession later deals that gives an elderly person who is "house poor" money to live on. In the end, it got ugly. The businessman and his wife took the widow to court because she'd been staying in town while her husband was ill. They argued that she had "abandoned" the place, and he was awarded posession. :^(

Anyway, that man turned his hand to a little remuddling; removed the french doors, slapped vinyl siding on the house, gutted the bathroom and put in a plastic shower. Anything that was still in the house was hauled out and thrown in the dump; from the looks of it, what didn't break going in was burned. Everything in the yard was mowed down. The only bright side is that other than the bathroom and the french doors, he left the interior alone, and no one cut any of the mature trees in the yard. When he was finished, he "flipped" the place to a gentleman from California who only wanted it because at the time, it was still legal to fight gamecocks in this state, and he planned to raise chickens. Less than 3 years later, chicken fighting was voted out, and he put the place up for sale. That's when we bought it.

>cue the happy theme song againWhen I found out that S.J.'s widow was still living, I went to visit, and invited her to come and see the house. She was in her 90's but she had her daughter bring her down and we had a wonderful visit. She was surprised to see two of the roses had survived so much mistreatment and neglect and got a little misty eyed when she talked about planting them all those years ago. That fall, we carefully dug them up transplanted them to her yard; she was just thrilled to have them back all these years later. Then she said "Oh, but now you don't have any roses". I laughed and told her I could plant all the roses I wanted, but that these belonged to her. I have to say that was the most fun I'd had in a long time.

They're still blooming at her house, and here I am, 2 & 1/2 years later, blessed with roses everywhere you look...

My house was owned by several banks 1933 - '43 and rented during that time. A Kodak chemist and his wife lived here for 1 - 3 years (the city directories are vague); her name was Frances Gershwin Godowsky. Her brothers George and Ira (you've heard of them?) came up from NYC at least once to play for her guests. An elderly lady who was at the time a child living in the house next door remembers her mother shooing her over here to sit under the windows and listen to the music.

I've heard other stories, too, none of any import other than to the people who lived them. One family owned the house for 30 years and raised 6 children here. I contacted one of the children (a woman my age) who visited when she was in town and told me lots of anecdotes about the place and shared some pictures with me. It was a very nice afternoon.

My home was built in 1929 and sold to the next door neighbors in 1939. The neighbor bought it for their daughter as a wedding present. We bought the house from the daughter, as she still owned it in 2004. After she moved out sometime in the 60's, various family members of hers have rented it. My dad who was the fire chief back in the 70's and 80's told me that two maiden aunts died in the house within a couple of years of eachother. No ghosts though... The last occupants of my house was a granddaughter and her boyfriend. He set a up a grow-room in the basement to grow pot. If you didn't know to look for it the room you would hardly even know it was there. Still had the lights all set up. Apparently as we have told by other neighbors, he was arrested, but never went to court. So during our first year there, we had the police still coming and looking for him.

vjrnts, that is the neatest thing! So, do you have any framed sheet music or movie posters hanging? (So many great ones to choose from.)

No, no music or posters; we have a lot of plat maps from 1918, 1926 and 1934 on the walls! We sure play a lot of Gershwin's music, though.

the only things we know about our 1893 farmhouse is that it was origionally 2 different houses, and the family who owned it circa 1930 had mated the 2 houses... one alf was a relatives house that had passed and the family inherited it and did not want to sell, so they had it moved there and joined together.

we also know from writing on the studs in the barn/outbuilding that it was built by a father and son, taking 3 months un july, aug and september of 1923.

as we remodel, we leave little notes and stuff in the walls for the next ones.

Our little farmhouse was originally alog cabin built in 1892. Ms. Samantha was born and died there (we are told she was in her 90's when she passed ). We are the third owners. Family members added on to the original cabins over time, a kitchen, bdrm, bathroom and dining room. We recently had those demolished and are starting from the ground up adding on to the original cabins. Its amazing the construction of the additions. This is the first old house we've owned, but we love it and can't wait for it to be complete.

I have found out a far bit about my house built in 1911.
I have met two older gentlemen that grow up in the house. They showed up the day before xmas. They looked to be in mid sixties. They told me that they had lived here and that it was their grandparents home who had it built. From them I found out that grandma died on the back porch (now my mudroom and 1/2 bath. They also told me my back bedroom was two unheated rooms that you had to accesses from my current bedroom. The funny thing I found out answered a big ?. When my kitchen was redone my contractor found emmypy liquor bottles a bunch of them. Well the men asked me if we found bottles during the reno. They them told me that thier had been old fashion business for an irish family (ie a still).
The second thing is sad. I have met the son of the family who owned the house from the 50's (from the grandparents of the old men). We I found ok that in the 80's a fire almost burned down the house. It turns out that the family from the 50's had passed on the house to their oldest daughter who had kids. he 4 year old was playing with matches in the living room and the fire killed his aunt who was asleep in the room above. One of teh local cops is the brother to the 17 year old girl who died. It also explained a lot about the house.