We're still digging to learn a little more about the history of our property. So this little blurb will hopefully be updated every once in a while when we learn something new.

Our home and the barn are on a small 3-acre plot of land nestled in the middle of Slaterville Springs, NY. We suspect that both the house and the barn were built in the mid-1800's by Samuel E. Green shortly after the village of Slaterville was put on the map. Back then Slaterville was just a cluster of houses with a post office. Now we've grown into a cluster of houses with a post office and a gas station. Now that's progress! The town became a vacation spa/resort and was renamed Slaterville Springs in the late 1800's after a health promoting mineral springs was discovered right in town. There is still an artesian spring that runs today in front of the town hall and people still come from all around to fill up jugs of water there. In addition to owning this property, Samuel Green owned several other nearby properties including a hotel that used to be across the street from our home. That hotel and the renowned Fountain House Hotel, which was on the site of the mineral springs, are now gone. For more on local history of Slaterville Springs and the town of Caroline, go to the Caroline Historian Website.

The years that followed saw our property change hands several times, mostly between members of extended family, before settling with the Barnes Family in 1943. Our neighbor is a grandson of William Barnes, who lived here from 1943-1986. Mr. Barnes' daughter, Bessie, grew up in this house and now lives right down the street. They've told us quite a bit about what they remember about our farm. They used to raise potatoes in the large back field and there used to be a corn crib and chicken coop behind the barn. In the second floor of the barn, William Barnes used to raise fighting cocks that were famous all over. He had one rooster that won thirteen straight fights. Since cock fighting was (and is) illegal, the upstairs of the barn made a good hiding spot for his prize roosters. They also had various other animals over the years and they always maintained a 1/2 acre vegetable garden. Ma Barnes used the addition to the old farmhouse to run a small restaurant that was famous for its pies.