If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 643

 

 

 

 

 

Old Stone Houses, Hurley, New York

 

This unused Natural Color Reproduction – Curteichcolor Art Creation, has a picture of the old stone houses found in Hurley, New York.  The card was distributed by Kingston Candy Co., of Kingston, New York and has the identifying code:  K19 along the left border on the reverse.  There is a blurb at the top left side on the reverse:  “Old Stone Houses, Hurley, New York.  Erected in the early 1700s.  Capital of the New York State was temporarily moved here in 1777, when British burned Kingston, which was the capital at that time.”  The photographer is not credited.  This would have been a souvenir card for tourists.

 

 Located in Ulster County, New York, Hurley is a small town or village with a population of about 6,000.  Much of the town is inside the Catskill Park.  Established as the site of a village by Petrus Stuyvesant, Director General of New Netherland, in 1662, it was destroyed a year later by members of the native population who had had a settlement of their own there.  The village was abandoned until 1669 when it was resettled by the British and renamed Hurley.  The area around Hurley is mostly agricultural.  In 1830 a fine quality of shale called bluestone was discovered and resulted in a quarry industry.  Bluestone is used in “road construction, curbing, sidewalks, and building facades.”

 

Old Hurley’s Main Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of the well-preserved stone houses shown on the card.  These houses have served as residences for more than 300 years.  Some of them are open to the public once a year on Stone House Day.  The Hurley Heritage Society Museum is located in one of the houses. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurley,_New_York

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston,_New_York

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 642

 

 

 

 

 

Old State House, Hartford, Connecticut

 

The Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut is featured on this unused color postcard published by NATCO, Natural Color Cards, Co., of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.  The blurb at the upper left on the reverse:  “The Old State House, Connecticut’s single most historic edifice was designed by Charles Bulfinch.  The building is a Registered National Landmark and an outstanding expression of federal style architecture.  Served as the state capitol from 1796 -1879 and was the scene of many important events.” 

 

This building is in appearance very similar to the Town Hall in Liverpool, England.  The exterior and the Senate have been restored to the original Federal style, while the Representative’s chamber is Victorian and the halls and courtrooms are Colonial Revival.  The early American architect, Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844), mentioned as the architect for Old State House, divided his time between Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. where he was the Commissioner of Public Buildings.  In 1960 the building was declared a National Historic Landmark. 

 

There are exhibits of important events in Connecticut history.  On the third floor is located the Museum of Natural and Other Curiosities.  Visitors can tour the original legislative rooms as well.  The building also has a reputation for being haunted or having unexplained strange sounds now and then. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_State_House_(Connecticut)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bulfinch

XC Skiing, first day out 2024

 

 

The parking lot at Hyak, just east of Snoqualmie Pass summit

Not many cars at Hyak for our first day out XC skiing in 2024.  Maybe it was the 12º F (-11º C) temperature?  We did not go far.  There were strong gusts of wind making it even colder on the way out.  The wind chill factor blowing in our face was probably 0º F ( -17.7º C).  The wind at our back on the return trip was a lot easier to endure.  The snow was packed powder, and the grooming was in very good condition. The downside was that the cold, dry weather made it very slow, sticky, snow.  It is hard to explain, but it makes it impossible to glide very far or at all.  A lot of work to go a short distance. 

 

I was stuffed into multi-layers, and other than my hands, kept very warm and cozy, but if I had fallen, which I did not, I would have ended up like Charlie Brown in his snow suit and even Snoopy would not have been able to help me get up.  My hands typically get so cold for the first 1/2 hour that I do not want to remove gloves to take pictures while we are out skiing.  I have tried heating them up under the hot air blower in the restroom before starting out, but even that doesn't keep them warm enough.  This time Bob suggested we try switching gloves a couple of times since his hands stay warm.  His warm hands had heated his gloves up nicely.  My gloves are really too small for him, but they have a zipper that provides a little more room.  It goes the other way too, his gloves are really too big for me and make holding the poles a little difficult.  However, it was super nice to slip my icy hands into warm gloves.  Once he got my gloves heated, we switched back again.  By then we had been out long enough that my hands were warming up too.  Might not work for everyone, but it is something we will most likely do again.

This year the ski areas opened a bit later than other years.  Grooming for the XC trail at Hyak just began this past week.  The alpine ski areas opened and started running the chair lifts earlier.  Not all of those areas are open every day.  Bob gets a Sno-Park pass so we can park and XC ski as often as we like all season at several different XC areas instead of paying a daily fee each time we go.  This is a huge savings for us since we try to go once a week.  The fee pays for plowing the lot and the trail grooming. 

 

It might be a little hard to see, but the wind had made swirling patterns on this patch of snow. 

Even though it was so cold, we had a good outing.  The sun was shining, blue sky with a few clouds, and the trees were flocked with new snow. The Snoqualmie Nordic Club has built a warming hut about 1/3 of a mile ( 1/2 km) from the parking lot.  We saw it on the way out.  On the return trip Bob skied over to see what it was like, but he did not want to take off his skis and go in.  It was still too cold to remove gloves to take photos, so next time we go we may try out the hut and take a picture.  The pictures in this post were taken from inside a nice warm car.

Ski tracks on a small hill near the Summit

The view coming down from the summit

Note:  Today lots of new snow coming down and both Snoqualmie and Stevens Passes are at least partially closed as I am writing this.  Snoqualmie westbound is open, Stevens is closed both directions.

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 641

 

 

 

 

 

Blackwater Falls, Tucker County, West Virginia

 

Another unused photo postcard, this one features the main attraction at Blackwater Falls State Park located in the Allegheny Mountains of Tucker County, West Virginia.  No photographer is credited for the picture but there is a blurb at the upper left on the reverse.  The card was distributed by Silver Lake Nursery, Horse Shoe Run, West Virginia.  Both Silver Lake and Horse Shoe Run are unincorporated communities located not far from the Blackwater Falls State Park.  It is likely that the Silver Lake Nursery had picture postcards available for tourists.  This card was found in shoebox jumble of old postcards in a local antique mall here. 

 

Blackwater Falls drop approximately 62 ft or 19 meters and are among the most photographed places in West Virginia.  The falls have appeared on calendars, stationery, and in advertisements.  The name Blackwater comes from the tannin-darkened water in the river. 

 

There is a wooden walkway and overlook that is reached from the parking lot by a broad trail that descends about 320 ft or 98 m.  A second, steeper trail, extends below the Falls.  There is also a nature trail in the park that is wheelchair accessible and leads to another overlook. 

 

The water flowing over the rocky outcropping divides causing its distinctive formation.  In the winter the Falls can ice over completely.  There have been at least four known deaths at the falls.  In 1933 someone was accidentally washed over the Falls during a flood.  A cliff diver died n 1937.  And in 1973 a woman was swept over the falls when she slipped on a rock and her husband also perished trying to catch her.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_Falls_State_Park

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Lake,_West_Virginia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Shoe_Run,_West_Virginia

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 640

 

 

 

 

 

Halpin Covered Bridge, Middlebury, Vermont, ca 1940s-1950s

 

Featured on this unused postcard is a color photograph by Warren Case & Frank L. Forward of the Halpin Bridge in Middlebury, Vermont.  The card has the number 566 at the upper left corner on the reverse.  There is also a blurb:  “Swimming hole under an Old Covered Bridge setting, known as Halpin Bridge, Middlebury, Vermont. [photographers identified as Case and Forward]."  The card was published by Forward’s Color Productions, Manchester, Vermont.  Forward’s photography business focused on Vermont and New Hampshire from the 1950s through the 1970s.  “The company used two different numbering systems:   a five-digit number and a three-digit number that was often followed or preceded by VT.  A link to the Vermont Historical Society is included below.

 

New England still has several covered bridges.  Not much of this bridge can be seen on the card; however, Wikipedia has two pictures.  The first picture shows a frontal view of the bridge.

 

 [photo of the front of Halpin Covered Bridge from:  Widipedia.org, link below]

 

 

 [photo of interior lattice truss support from Wikipedia.org, link below]

 

This second picture shows the interior lattice truss structure of the bridge.  The Halpin or High Covered Bridge, first used in 1850, is a wooden bridge that now rests on concrete abutments.  The old abutments made of marble that was crumbling, were replaced with concrete in 1994.  The bridge is located in a rural area and crosses the Muddy Branch of the New Haven River in Middlebury, Vermont.  Originally the bridge was used by a local marble quarry operation.  It is 66 feet or 20 meters long with a width of 16 ft or 4.9 m.  It is a one lane bridge 41 ft or 12.5 m above the water.  The name “High Covered Bridge” comes from it being the highest above the water covered bridge in the state of Vermont. 

 

One of the photographers credited is Warren Elred Case, who was born 1924 in Baltimore, Maryland, and died 1994 in Middlebury, Vermont.  A collection comprised of of 275 color scenes in Vermont taken by Case in the 1940s and 1950s can be found in the University of Vermont Libraries, Special Collections.  

 

Frank Louis Forward, Jr. is the second photographer cited on the card.  He was the president and owner of Forward’s Color Productions, Inc. located in Manchester, Vermont.  Born in 1917 in Sandy Point, Newfoundland, Canada, Forward died in 2003 in Bennington, Vermont.  Many of the cards published by Forward’s have his own photos on them, but the company also employed other photographers, such as Case.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://vermonthistory.org/documents/findaid/ForwardsColorProductions.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halpin_Covered_Bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lattice_truss_bridge

https://scfindingaids.uvm.edu/agents/people/584

 

Note:  this link may require a subscription to Newspapers.com

https://newspapers.com/image/535949447