A history of stone wall and stone wall buildings in New England. A talk given by Kevin Gardner through the Lancaster Historical Society. Filmed October 17, 2021
This is absolutely fascinating. The company I work for quarries gneiss in CT and harvests fieldstone walls from building developments. Today I got an education in my field of work, thank you.
It took me a while to realize you weren’t wearing 18th century apparel. I thought your mask was the collar to a white shirt beneath a maroon jacket. You resenble Andrew Jackson giving an anthropologic/geologic lecture! Bravo!!
Kevin is one of the most knowledgeable and accessable historical presenters I've ever encountered. Mastery of the subject combined with wit, I could listen to him for hours. He's given two lectures for our museum up in Bridgton, Maine and it's always such a treat - so good to see this recording has been made. Thanks!
Bridgton is a great little town! I used to live in Waterford. There are some absolutely incredible and beautiful stone walls in that part of the state. That area is full of them. Some of my favorite ones are out near the 5 Kezars and at the bottom of Mill Hill Road in Waterford. Also along RT. 93.
Just stumbled on this very interesting clip. My small 3 acre plot of land here in South Braintree Ma contains 9 stone walls. Some big stones bearing the marks of being drilled and wedged to split in handle able pieces, one even with the wedge still stuck waiting for the farmers return from lunch. As you mentioned in your talk, different areas different types or shapes of rock. I have roots ( colonial roots) in the Plainfield area of Ct where many old stone walls are made of flat looks like sedimentary stones some same stones used for grave markers. Thanks for my entertainment this morning
This guy Full of Knowledge. Plus good since of Humor too which I very much like. He seems like someone u could talk too. I appreciate ur Video. From Tennessee. Nature Freedom Dreams. rural carroll county cedar grove TN rockhound. Thank u Mr Gardener
The range of workmanship in stonewall construction is remarkable. I’ve seen stone walls in Maine that are works of art and others that appear to be nothing more than a line of dumped rocks following what must have been field clearing.
There wasn’t the human or draft animal population on hand In colonial times to have produced most of the thousands of miles of stone walls in New England and New York.
@@debfein-brug4374 not sure what you mean by specific examples. You may only be comfortable with white historical narratives. The stone walls of New England and New York were added to by colonial farmers. They predate the Algonquin speaking tribes who have been living in the NE for thousands of years. I’m a Mahican elder. If you can’t comprehend that then I’m sorry.
Pretty rude, Id say. I was asking for proof not direspecting anyones heritage. Scientists do have formations that were built before the 1640s in sagahadock county and lydar shows really cool formations related to things like solar events...But not stonewalls in the traditional subdividing property kinds of ways. Early people had different ways of differentiating boundries. Some in the type of hunting grounds. Unfortunately though Native Americans were enslaved a forced to build walls as well. That is my understanding. And that is why i was asking just as a form of education. Really nothing personal.
In modus ct. natives talked about the modus noises ..which were and continues to be small earthquakes…gov.has a seismometer on my friends farm where the fault line is..and these quakes eventually falls the walls plus snow and ice….however some of these walls were built by someone who knew his craft because many are still standing strong 300 years later.
In Connecticut I grew up in the woods following very old stone walls and as a kid I wondered how and why all those wells were in the middle of the woods. Then going through local graveyard’s we have markers from1680 through 1700’s 1800’s and on. I learned the virgin forest was clear cut in 1700s and again in 1800s for the sheep craze..and after civil war the fields went back to forest. We have many foundations of homes with huge rocks that were neighborhoods near salmon river where there is a tree of virgin forest that takes eight men arm to arm to surround…
