Explore Map » Stories

This was my home and after 65 years I still live within a mile of this home. My parents were married in 1941. My brother and I both grew up in this house with lots of love and many cousins in the surrounding area to play with. I was quite the "tomboy" but not allowed as a young girl on the farm to drive a tractor but I do now.

My parents were both very hard working and our farm was definitely a working farm raising hogs to send to market, milking cows (which my mother did), selling certified seed, planting corn, beans, wheat and in the early years barley, even fields of tomatoes where workers individually set the plants and when ripe the tomatoes were then picked before shipping them off to plants.

Many things are difficult to recall but I remember how very hard my parents worked from early in the morning to late at night. Generally not on Sundays unless it was critical to do so. Many days there were hired hands to feed not one meal but two meals when the crops were going in the ground or being harvested.Special days like laudry day meant a specific food like ham and beans for lunch. We always had a beautiful, bountiful garden which my dad took much pride in, just like it was a field of corn. The rows had to be straight and weed free, watered and picked when ready!

I can think of no better place to raise a family than on a farm. Close to God, reaping the harvest and sharing food, work, love and memories. I was truly blest and appreciate the strong rural and Christian unbringing which came from this country life. My Dad is in the garden right now in this picture, look closely and you will see him. Precious memories, oh how sweet.

A double set of tracks were removed late 70's. Once an egg farm by Stan Perry early 70's & now Dreyer Painting & Storage 1988, to present 2010. Owned by Terry & Kim Dreyer. With a new home built by Terry in 2002.

I received the 1975 aerial photo of "The Farm" from my son Randy on Fathers Day 2010. The folks at Vintage Aerial did an awesome job preserving this photo and framing it. I am 63 years old, and this is where I grew up along with 5 brothers and sisters,so the photo brings back alot of memories. My father passed away in 2000 and Mom decided it was too much for her to maintain the farm, so she sold and moved to town. Now at least, I have this photo to share and remember my early years on "The Farm".

We just purchased this home, May 2010, from a Mr. Alfred Lee. He owned the house, shop, out-buildings & 8.5 acres for the past approximately 35 years. We are thrilled that God saw fit to give us this beautiful gift. Alfred & his departed wife took immaculate care of every detail both inside & outside of their home. My husband, 3 children, and I are now remodeling to update the interior & are also adding on a master suit to the back (behind the garage side of the house). Praise God for His goodness & abundant blessings on our family!

In 1984 we were looking for a property in Orleans County as we were living in the city and wanted to get into the country. My folks had a cottage on Lake Ontario so we were familiar with the area. The local Farm Bureau had this property for sale in Kent, NY. It is an old granary built around 1875 and located along side the Hojack Line RR that went from Albany west to the Niagara River. The RR had stopped running in the late 1970's, and the granary and depot were vacant and unused. Once the Bureau agent showed me the building, I was hooked. It is built out of solid wood, walls are 6" thick and made with 2 by 6's laid flat one on top of another. It is 30 by 50 and divided into 15 bins from the second floor up.The first floor is wide open and had the chutes pointing down from above. The grain went up chutes carried by metal cups attached to leather belts. At the top it was directed into the correct bin through another chute that could swing to reach all the bins. The building is 4 1/2 stories tall. We tried to leave as much of the original building as possible as we renovated it into a home. The old drive lines still hang from the ceiling, and the walls downstairs are the original wood, the hard rock maple floors were refinished and look great.

The building behind the granary was a huge 2 story storage building where the produce and grain was stored until it was loaded on to the train cars or in trucks. The train tracks came right alongside the building. About 1996 the roof on the back building fell in leaving the solid poured concrete walls standing 8' high. My husband then built short walls on that and roofed the building again. It has become his cabinetmaking shop and home for our construction/cabinet business. The depot had to be moved 25 feet to the south in 1994 because the RR company wanted it completely off the old line area before they would sell me the land in front of my building. I was able to buy the lot that the RR building was moved on to and later we bought the actual 80' wide railroad bed from Kent Road to Sawyer Road. The depot is still in a state of disrepair, but we hope to save at least part of it. The house on the left of the picture used to be the station masters home. We have completely renovated that home and it is currently being used as a rental. It is wonderful to find a picture of our property just before we bought it and started renovations.

My parents, C. Dale & Joann (Morgan) Huffington, bought this property in the late 1950s. They lived here until 1970 when we moved to Jasonville, IN. My father's parents bought the 2 story house from them and moved in. My grandfather, Fred Huffington, died in June, 1971 and Grandmother Beulah continued living here until her death in January 1991. My parents built the ranch-style home in a corner of the field and we moved back "home" in 1973. I married in 1988 and we moved to a farmhouse 3/4mi away as the crow flies but after Grandmother passed away we got the opportunity to move into her house. We did and have had all three of our children born to us while living here. The largest barn suffered water damage to the roof on the shed addition and the damage affected the main supports for the central original part. That barn was torn down in the spring of 1992. That barn had a double haymow and still had the original cattle stanchions and feed bunks. We raised cattle and hogs in it for years. The smaller barn in the rear of the picture was moved to this location in the early 1900s by a Renner that was a cattle jockey. It was originally located 1 mile east down the road that borders the north edge of this property.

Warren and Eileen Rawlins lived on this farm from 1953-1956. Warren farmed and milked cows. Warren and Eileen had three children, Alice Rawlins Asher, Helen Rawlins Bryson, and Phillip Rawlins.

This is the old family farm house built in the late 1800's to right around 1900. The house still stands, and currently my wife and I reside there.

The large barn on the far left of the picture also still stands, however, in 2004 a tornado destroyed all other structures.

This land, located approximately 10 miles north of Ashburn, Georgia, off of highway 41, was first owned by J. H. Odom. Upon his death in 1943, his heirs were given property per his will. My grandmother Corrie Miles Odom Collins was his oldest daughter of 11 surviving children. She received 166.2 acres for the "sum of $5 and other valuable consideration" in Turner and Crisp County. This deed was signed on April 3, 1948. The land was used for farming and to grow cows and hogs and raised a family with a girl and 2 boys.
Where the tractor is in the picture was one acre that my grandmother sold to my father, Donald Gene Collins, for the sum of love and affection when he and my mother married in 1966. They bought a TINY single wide mobile home and lived there until 1976. I was born in 1968 and my brother was born in 1974. We lived here until we moved to Rebecca Georgia in 1976.

My grandmother died in 1975 and my grandfather, Doss Russell Collins died in 1977. My uncle, Willis Russell Collins owned and farmed or rented out the entire acreage until the late 1990's. The house was used as tenant rental property by my uncle, until abandoned in the early 1990's. The entire acreage was then sold to my father and will remain in our family. The other buildings were long since gone and only the house, the concrete pad for the grain bin and the pump house remained. It is believed the house was struck by lightening in 1999 and burned. After clearing the property, my brother placed a single wide where the house had stood. I bought 4.9 acres from my father in 2000, at the southeast corner of the property, just to the left of what is seen in the picture. Looking at the house, the viewer would be facing south.

In the summer of 1975 a tornado came between the edge of our tiny trailer and the tree in the bottom right. No damage was done to our trailer, though my mother, brother and I had stood on the front porch and watched as it went over. A shelter that was connected to the right of the barn or "corn crib" at the top of the picture was destroyed and tin from the roof was found about 5 miles south.

The scene in the picture is how I remember the property growing up, looking out the front door of the single wide trailer across the road from Grandma and Granddaddy's house. I am so glad that I now have this portrait. It will be cherished by my family for generations to come. What were only memories can now be shared with others!

LOVE IT!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

This was SO GREAT! Love looking at the pictures with you and then the EASE of the checkout process.

This land, located approximately 10 miles north of Ashburn, GA on highway 41 was first owned by J. H. Odom. Upon his death, his heirs were given property per his will. My grandmother Corrie Miles Odom Collins was his oldest daughter of 11 surviving children. She received 166.2 acres for the "sum of $5 and other valuable consideration." This deed was signed on April 3, 1948. The land was used for farming and used to grow cows and hogs and raised a family of 2 boys and a girl.

Where the tractor is in the picture was one acre that my grandmother sold to my father, Donald Gene Collins, for the sum of love and affection when he and my mother married in 1966. They bought a TINY single wide mobile home and lived there until 1976. I was born in 1968 and my brother was born in 1974. We lived here until we moved to Rebecca GA in 1976.

My grandmother died in 1975 and my grandfather, Doss Russell Collins died in 1977. My uncle, Willis Russell Collins owned and farmed the entire acreage until the late 1980's. The house was used as tenant rental property by my uncle, until abandoned in the early 1990's. The property was then sold to my father. The out buildings were long since gone and only the house, the concrete pad for the grain bin and the pump house remained. It is believed the house was struck by lightening in 1999 and burned to the ground. After clearing the property, my brother placed a single wide where the house had stood. I bought 4.9 acres from my father in 2000, at the furthermost southeast corner of the property, just to the left of the picture. Looking at the house, the viewer is facing south.

The scene in the picture is how I remember the property growing up, looking out the front door of the single wide across the road from Grandma and Granddaddy's house. I can't wait to give this picture to my father for Father's day 2010. What a treasure!