#Local History
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tape, cardboard, and newspaper!!!
to go a bit more into detail on this - from what I understand, this was on display* in a house for a number of years. This particular piece comes from the home of the harbormaster (a lovely man), and was exposed to light and about 50+ years of cigarette smoke. The boat in the photo is an early ferry in my area, and the cardboard it is mounted on seems to be some sort of church(??) yard sign(???)
we are still deciding the best course of action for this piece, but in all honestly, as a smallish museum/historical society with a laundry list of pieces with urgent conservation needs, we don't have the manpower to do anything other than keep it in a dark and temperature controlled space.
There are a lot of things that make me sad when I see pieces like this, because its so easy to see how important it was to its former owner, and it hurts me that we can't pour all of our time and resources into every piece that needs help. There are pieces even in this intake (which I cannot show because they contain identifying information about my location) that will be prioritized as they demand more immediate conservation efforts. Time can be a cruel opponent - and all we can do is our best.
anywho!!! all this is to say Support your local historical society!!! they are trying their darndest to preserve your local history and can't do so without community support! (and support does not always mean money!!! genuinely just interacting with your local historical societies can mean so much)
*I am unsure the specifics of where/how long it was on display for
#thank you guys for reading all that#wearing gloves bc some of these pieces were stored in places with things I am allergic to#and also bc 50 years of cigarette smoke is not the most fun to have on hands#museum collections#yeah I posted it on my instagram first#bc I can't edit photos to save my life and that's what was easy#historical society#local history#history#museums#east coast#ferry#schooner#maritime#museum studies#museum curator#conservation#museum conservation#preservation#historic preservation#newspapers#archives#museum archive#archival materials#hashtag clean hands for handling archival mat unless you're hanna and allergic to everything
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Summer event at the local historical society today. Exhibited some of my work, saw lots of crafts, and wore my folk costume.
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I had an interesting couple of nights.
First night, nothing specific. I had a feeling that we weren't alone in our room.
Then last night, at around 2am, I heard horse hooves outside our window.
Clip clop, clip clop, lasted no longer than 20 seconds. Came out of nowhere, then disappeared just like they appeared.
Now, as an equestrian, that's a sound that my brain immediately registers. I've heard it far too many times to not recognize it right away. I didn't even have to think about it. Horse hooves, wearing horseshoes, trotting, on pavement. My nighttime medication addled brain at first thought, "who the hell out there riding a horse in the middle of the night, it below freezing out!" It took me all of a second to realize, ok that ain't a rider who's alive.
Some time later, I woke up again. I felt someone sit down at the foot of the bed on my side, the mattress dipped at the bottom, then they laid a hand on my leg. I reached a hand out next to me and touched my husband's back, heard him softly snoring, so I knew that wasn't him. I wasn't spooked at all. It was oddly comforting, and felt profoundly sad. I've had some strange dreams these two nights, that wasn't one of them.
I'm definitely planning on coming back to this inn, stay in a different room, even if it means not getting a good night's sleep when I'm in Gettysburg. Maybe next time, I try to have a conversation.
#mother witch ramblings#spirit worker#medium#paranormal activities#ghosts and hauntings#supernatural experiences#haunted places#ghosts and spirits#gettysburg#haunted inns#haunted houses#history geek#lorelei's travels#local history
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Hello friends in my phone and/or eels that have gotten ahold of a discarded Blackberry and are hacking the cables in the sea floor to access Tumblr
Today I pulled challenge number 30: Pick a street and try to find out how it got its name. And I am giving this one its very own post because this shit is interesting!
Majorly nerdy history rant under the cut
Okay so I picked Colfax Avenue, which is known for being a) the longest street in America and 2) generally quite shady. Is it actually? Eh, depends. It goes through the whole city, you get a little bit of everything. There's stores, gay bars, weird used-car dealerships, and at least one all-night diner that's a designated historic site. Only a few of the motels still let you pay by the hour. Gentrification is trying to take the street over but it's putting up a fight. You get me.
So why is it called Colfax?
Well, turns out it's named after a person! Schuyler Colfax was an Indiana Congressman, Speaker of the House and vice president in the 1850s-1870s. He proposed the bill that made Colorado a state in 1876, and we were so grateful, we named our weirdest street after him.
A few other fun fax (see what I did there) about him:
People called him "Smiler Colfax" so apparently he was a pretty cheerful guy. His Wikipedia picture agrees, he looks like if someone travelled back in time and gave Abe Lincoln a Xanax
He was a dedicated abolitionist and cast the final vote to pass the 13th Amendment and abolish slavery
Overall, seems like a pretty cool dude, I'm glad to know about him! I wonder what he'd think of his legacy and how the street has changed since he was here.
ps. Bonus cool 'Fax Fact: in the local Deaf community, the street name is the ASL sign for "fox" because there were a bunch of fox farms along the west end during the second fur-trade boom in the 1920s-60s.
And that has been today's installment of Local History with Your Local Gremlin! Tune in next time for something almost certainly completely unrelated.
#2025 year of whimsy#local history#also i took myself on a gay little walk#winning all round today chums
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Public?
Ok, pretty angry, but I've settled enough to post. So, Son has been extremely interested in the local (defunct) paper mill for some time. He has some nifty drone photos of it. It is currently in the process of being dismantled and scrapped, but for such a huge complex that is a LONG process.
Also note; the tiny town that supported the mill (and vice versa) is crammed right up against the mill on one side. There is a narrow road with a surprising amount of traffic, a sidewalk, and then the houses start. Son got a nicer camera this week, and has been learning how to use it.
Wednesday was an overcast day with low cloud cover and interesting light conditions for photography. He rushed to the mill after classes, set up his tripod on the sidewalk, and started trying to get some shots.
Remember how it's been a topic of concern lately that 'existing in public spaces' is getting harder? WELL.
A fancy white car came swooping up while he was fiddling with the camera. On a public sidewalk. In a small town. The guy driving stopped his car, blocking westbound traffic (there is absolutely NO shoulder or parking space on this road. Did I mention lots of traffic?) He hopped out of his car and started belligerently harassing my son. Because taking photos of a historic site is suspicious. A couple of older women sitting on their porch called him - the mayor of this TINY town! - because "Suspicious Youth."
I will abbreviate the rest. He was aggressively badgered, threatened, and told he was Not Allowed to take pictures or park his car in town (in a empty lot marked 'visitor') It was ridiculous. All to 'protect' the townsfolk? From someone taking pictures of the mill demo? What WAS a problem there was his car blocking a lane of traffic while big trucks taking wood to Kingsford Charcoal factory had to squeeze around in the opposing lane on a sharp curve. Sunbitch.
I'm more than half tempted to take my $%*$%&^! easel and my paints and go sit in that exact spot to plein air paint. See if McMayor show up. But I'm a middle-aged woman. Seen (erroneously) as 'harmless'. Grrrr.
If any of y'all are photographers and have advice, feel free to lay it on me.
#photography#artists on tumblr#photographer#young adult#young artist#local history#mamabear#college student
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Drone footage of the Dejarnette children's sanitarium in Staunton, VA.
📸 Kelly Aisling
#photography#original photographers#history#haunted history#mental health#virginia#staunton#dejarnette#horrible histories#local history#the vibes are off#every time
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Old North Church is getting a face lift, and the original paintings are wonderful.
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Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions (Customs and Traditions)
Customs and Traditions Worldbuilding Questions:
What are widely practiced customs and traditions common to multiple regions in your world?
What are customs and traditions specific to individual regions or peoples?
Who participates in which customs and traditions? What are demarcated roles or responsibilities within them? Or are roles and responsibilities rotated?
Who creates or enforces the rules of customs and traditions in the world? Is it the law or government, or do individual groups self-regulate (or have customs and traditions that break with norms)?
Where do rituals and ceremonies typically take place? What is place’s significance within them?
Where do popular customs and traditions come from, what is their back story?
When are customs and traditions typically practiced, under what time-bound conditions?
When do customs and traditions change, and why?
Why is any custom or tradition on the rise or waning in popularity, what are contributing factors?
Why do characters participate in or avoid specific customs and traditions?
❯ ❯ ❯ Read other writing masterposts in this series: Worldbuilding Questions for Deeper Settings
#writeblr#worldbuilding#fiction writing#writing tips#writing advice#fwq#writing#novel writing#customs#traditions#local history#writing research#fantasy writing#fantasy fiction
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Image Of The Week
We are always learning about interesting new people who came to Saranac Lake, and in honor of #PrideMonth, we want to share about Dr. Alan Hart! Hart was a physician, radiologist, tuberculosis researcher, writer, and novelist. In 1917, Hart became one of the first trans men in the United States to undergo a hysterectomy. Hart devoted much of his career to the study and prevention of tuberculosis, and went on to standardize the use of X-ray photography to detect the disease, which was not common at the time.
Hart came to Saranac Lake to study at the Trudeau School for Tuberculosis in 1925 and spent at least six weeks learning from the doctors and researchers here. It is said that Hart's work has saved countless lives; the widespread application of X-ray as an early detection tool greatly reduced the death toll of the disease. Despite Hart's important work, he faced many challenges throughout his career and was often forced to leave employment due to being outed as transgender. Learn more about Hart's career and life by checking out, "Trailblazing Transgender Doctor Saved Countless Lives," in Scientific American!
#local history#historic saranac lake#saranac lake#saranac lake history#museums#history#museum collections#historic photographs#adirondacks#tuberculosis#LGBT history#queer history#trans history#transgender#medical history
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Kekri: Finland's answer to day of the dead
Kekri is a unique and lively celebration in Finland that marks the end of the harvest season, a vital time for a society historically reliant on agriculture. The ancient European farming communities lived and died by the success of their crops. A good year meant a bountiful yield, easing the pressure on the coming winter, while a poor harvest meant hard times lay ahead, with the punishing colder…
#Europe#finland#folklore#holidays#human#international#local history#news#November#people#stories#traditions#world
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William Haskell House, Gloucester, Massachusetts, circa late 1600s.
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neat metal detecting find!! lock from 1910!!!
found this neat Eagle Lock Co. Lock today (finally got permission to metal detect at my work:)) - it is likely from c. 1910 as that was the primary time that the section of property was used !!! this is probably my coolest find so far metal detecting!!
#using my museum stuff acc for personal stuff but that's ok#bc I found it at the museum technically#historical society#history#local history#east coast#museums#antiques#antique lock#themuseumlady#antiquities#metal detecting#treasure
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Went to a local craft fair today. I guess it's the closest to a ren fair that we have around here. All the vendors and volunteers, and some of the guests too, wear some flavor of historical garb. I wore my folk costume again.
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The general consensus among all my friends is that Gettysburg is haunted AF.
The veil definitely feels thinner here, that's for sure. There's a heaviness in the air all around, a sense of sadness hovering over that's gotten to me.
The inn I'm staying in was smack dab in the epicenter of the Battle of Gettysburg and served as a field hospital.
They desperately wanted to live.
#diary#personal#mother witch ramblings#history#haunted places#spirit worker#ghosts and spirits#medium#lorelei's travels#local history
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Re reading The Gallows Pole, probably followed by a rewatch.
#The gallows pole#gallows pole#benjamin myers#Cragg vale#The cragg vale coiners#king david#David Hartley#local history#my artwork#My pen and ink scribbles#pen and ink
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