Bailey Road real photo post card about 1900

Rene Elliott wrote:

The late Anita Halbert/Neighbors/Steele's cousin in Oneonta (Ed? Church) gave me this reprint from a rare real photo postcard he had, looking off what is now rt 51 across the valley towards Filers Corners. Baileys Mills, once called "Morris Mills" is on the far side of the creek, and H.J. Lull's woolen mill, a stone building would be out of sight to far left. In theory the building stone was from the bog iron ore furnace built by Franchot's c. 1810, which would have used water power for the bellows, hammer, etc. using the same dam site. The fence around the Hannah Cooper monument was made from this iron, the dog that scared her horse ran out of the log cabin of the furnace worker. In CT during the Revolution they were able to refine bog iron ore (that layer of earth that groundwater turns orange) enough to make cannon barrels but supposedly it was too inferior in quality here. The elder Bailey trained oxen in a barn and yard below the road from his mill, and they say ox shoes used to get plowed up around there. Winton & Dayton are said to have a "pug mill" or brick making yard in the vicinity as well and they said discarded/imperfect brick used to be found in the vicinity. I would guess c. 1900 vintage.

Rennie M Elliott
There was a water ram type pump on Lull's farm, and Harold Crumb told about Dan Gassler betting him that he knew where water ran up hill, they made a bet and then he showed him this pump. Supposedly the site around there turned up a lot of indian artifacts, which Mrs. Light used to have in a framed collection, including a white obsidian projectile head, (not locally sourced material) that supports the "Butternut Road" trade route theory.

Rennie M Elliott
If Dr. Morris hadn't objected to a trolley line that would compete with his Unadilla Valley Railroad (and hoped bridge line through Morris to Oneonta so he could connect with the Ulster & Delaware RR to NYC) crossing his land (so the trolley was built through Hartwick instead) it would have run across the foreground, up the west side of the creek all the way to Mill St. and along the pond dyke to Elm Grove on it's way north to Garrattsville, West Burlington, West Winfield, etc.

Peggy Knapp McCrea
Amazing history. How I wish this had been taught to us instead of European history, in which I had no interest whatsoever at the time.