Replies

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:07am | #1

   old is out of the way,  here the framing is started -

   
1. 
   BarryE | Feb 04, 2003 05:14pm | #15

   Great sense of the past.

   Love the pic with the dog wandering by and the little boy watching. And the handsaw and level leaning against the frame.

   Thanks for sharing.

   View Image

   Barry E

1. 
   jimblodgett | Feb 04, 2003 06:00pm | #16

   Thanks, David.  That was like a religous experience.

   Man, that is some house.

2. 
   JerraldHayes | Feb 04, 2003 06:49pm | #18

   David Great Pictures! I love seeing that kind of stuff.

   Is it true the little kid in picture

   homebuilding_1915_b.jpg is Piffen?

   Back around the turn of the last century the town I live in, Katonah NY, was

   moved a mile south from it original location to accommodate the construction

   of the Croton Reservoir System for the NYC water supply and I love looking

   through the old photographs of both the original homes being moved and the

   new town

   being constructed. The town logo here is a victorian home being pulled by a

   horse powered capstan sort of as in your picture

   homebuilding_1915_e.jpg

   From the Half Moon Press March, 1997 issue

   In 1892 the residents of "old" Katonah were told that the land on

   which their village was built, a half mile north of the site of "new" Katonah,

   had been condemned by the City of New York to make way for the city's new

   reservoir system. The old village, although ten miles up river from the proposed

   second

   dam on the Croton River, would be submerged when the dam was completed. The

   residents could either take the money offered for their homes or be forced

   from the land.

   After a period of turmoil and indignation, a Citizen's Committee was formed

   to investigate new sites for the village. The members formed the Katonah

   Land Company that purchased two existing farms a half mile to the south on

   higher

   ground. The Olmstead brothers were hired to lay out the new village and lots

   were sold to the villagers. As the dam builders began laying the first masonry

   in 1895, the exodus began.

   By the end of the century, 65 buildings had been moved. First, workers raised

   the house from its foundation with jacks, and placed heavy timbers underneath

   which acted as a sled. More timbers were laid as rails, and a tow rope

   was wound around the house and secured to a main towing rope that was extended

   to a capstan. Horses were used to turn the capstan and draw the house over

   the rails which were lubricated with laundry soap.

   Small houses could be moved in a matter of weeks, larger ones took longer.

   Families lived in their houses as they made their way to the new lots -- social

   events, even a wedding took place during the move. On April 5, 1897, the mail

   was delivered to the new town by a southbound train which had passed by the

   old station.

   I guess I just love to look at the history of building and the history of

   towns and villages too. This is the first I learned that you been posting

   old construction photos so I guess I'm going to have to run them down now and

   see what you have posted. Do you have more that you'll keep on posting?

   View Image

   "Function is based

   on more than utilitarian factors. Ambiance invites use."- Sarah Susanka

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 05, 2003 05:00am | #26

   hi, Jerrald -

   Is it true the little kid in picture homebuilding_1915_b.jpg is Piffen?

    figured Piffen must be the guy on the edge of the roof,  lecturing the would be DYI'er on the fine points of starter courses -

   the people are for the most part a mystery - in the siding shot,  I believe g-grandpa and g-grandma are visible in the left forground - the kids visible are a key that doesn't fit - the date I assigned to the project is arbitrary,  I am certain it was not later than that,  but for those kids to be Douds would place the project in the 1890s - if the biggest kid wandering around is grandpa,  he was born 1888 -

   the family has 120 years of photos,  mostly centered around fruit growing - I prepared a 'powerpoint' presentation for a fruit growers meeting and stirred thru a lot - dad has been getting into the act and everyone has been trying to get the archives in the best shape we can before dad isn't here to answer questions (87yo) - I've got some more constructions over the years,  but this is the best I've got for this group -

   glad you enjoyed them,  how about a few from the Katona moving? -

   regards, DOUD

1. 
   JerraldHayes | Feb 05, 2003 07:29am | #31

   "...figured Piffen must be the guy on the edge

   of the roof,  lecturing

   the

   would be DYI'er on the fine points of starter courses - "

   But that would make Piffen well over a hundred old where as I just figured

   him as being a spry 96 or 97.

   I would love to do a photo essay on moving Katonah unfortunately I don't have

   anything on it other that the photos in a book I have on the town and those

   are copyright protected. However I do know the group who researched and prepared

   the town for it 100 year moving anniversary years ago and my next door neighbor

   is head of the planning board so I might be able to get something following

   those leads.

   Your nudge regarding moving Katonah also gives me an article subject idea

   for a local web based home and garden e-zine I'm a part of Thanks for the inspiration.

   It maybe

   a

   while

   before

   I

   can come with that but I'll be sure to let you know when I do get it together.

   View Image

   "Function is based

   on more than utilitarian factors. Ambiance invites use."- Sarah Susanka

1. 
   Fairfield | Feb 05, 2003 05:36pm | #33

   Jerrald -

   FWIW --

   Your post made me remember a a childrens book we got for our kids 10 years ago. Letting Swift River Go by Jane Yolen. Great book -- info at:

   http://hallkidstales.com/Y/102.shtml

   Tells the story of a family forced to move from the Swift River Valley by the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir, which was built in the 30's to provide water for Boston.

   website: http://www.friendsofquabbin.org/valley.html

2. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:09am | #2

   another angle -

   
1. 
   CAGIV | Feb 04, 2003 08:12am | #4

   Not much for headers back then were they?

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 05:09pm | #13

   Not much for headers back then were they?

   maybe not,  but they had real lumber with which to build....

3. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:12am | #3

   sheathing,  second floor ceiling joist,  getting ready to frame the roof -

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:15am | #5

   later in the season and the crops are out of the way,  so time to drag the old out of the way -

1. 
   JohnSprung | Feb 04, 2003 10:13pm | #19

   These are wonderful, maybe FHB could use them for an article.

   Safety considerations sure have changed since then -- that chain on a diagonal could have 2 - 3 times the tension it would in a straight pull, and children look like they're standing in an area where it might whip around if it broke.

   -- J.S.

1. 
   joeh | Feb 04, 2003 11:38pm | #20

   John, Suppose that's why there aren't so many guys named Gimpy around anymore?

   Joe H

2. 
   Dant45 | Feb 04, 2003 11:54pm | #21

   Really great pictures.  Always interesting to see history in the making.  Thanks a lot Dave.  DanT

3. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 05, 2003 06:28am | #27

   that chain on a diagonal

   ya - looked at that myself - so many chances for things to go wrong - as I analyzed this series,  I realized this should have been the first photo,  I believe this is the first pull,  separating the structure from the section that remained in place - would appear that the rope is running thru a block and the chain is attached to just the one corner of the structure - I guess the man on the capstand must be controlling the pull  by tensioning the rope on the capstand - looks like the horse would have to step over the rigging  - interesting that everyone is watching the horse/capstand and not paying any attention to the building - tell me,  is the person at the corrner of the house a youth or adult?

2. 
   bd342 | Feb 05, 2003 04:16am | #24

   I may be using too much imagination ,but doesn't it look look like he's just giving verbal commands to that draft horse?

   See how the horse's ear is cocked back torwards the capstan? Not paying any attention to the people who are right in view .

   Photos like these are a true treasure.

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 05, 2003 07:17am | #30

   doesn't it look look like he's just giving verbal commands to that draft horse?

   ya,  I would expect the horse to be a well behaved one for that job - it's interesting to me that everyone is watching the horse/capstand and not paying any attention to the structure - how things got done in a different world... 

2. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:17am | #6

   siding time - roof must be shedding water -

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:20am | #7

   done by winter - just like all of you,  right?

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:26am | #9

   whaddu do with a new house?  throw a party or two,  of course -

   
1. 
   rez | Feb 04, 2003 09:02am | #10

   Dave man, that was absolutely great.Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.

   The other...proper application of risk.

    

    

2. 
   Jencar | Feb 04, 2003 11:00am | #11

   Framing sure hasn't changed much in all that time (cept for steel framing) kind of gives you chills...can't improve on perfection...

   ;)

3. 
   reinvent | Oct 01, 2007 12:30am | #35

   I noticed they have incorperated some green building technology. They have a wind turbine and a gray wate recovery tank. ;-)

2. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 08:21am | #8

   the next summer - a different angle

1. 
   BossHog | Feb 04, 2003 03:37pm | #12

   Is that the house you live in now?If I had a hidden agenda, I'd probably lose it.

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 04, 2003 05:12pm | #14

   Is that the house you live in now?

   no - this is g-grandpa Douds' house over on the highway at the big orchard -  pictorial of this house would be like a documentary on making sausage...

3. 
   Framer | Feb 05, 2003 12:32am | #22

   David,

   Was that scaffold OSHA approved? ;-)

   Great Pictures.

   Joe Carola

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 05, 2003 06:31am | #28

   Was that scaffold OSHA approved?

   maybe the 'Oh $hit, hang-on administration' ;-)

4. 
   Qtrmeg | Feb 04, 2003 06:34pm | #17

   Great thread David.

   I liked the guy in the picture I attached, they sure don't stage them like the old days either.

   
1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 05, 2003 04:43am | #25

   re:  nut -

   ya,  I was looking at him as I worked scanning the pict - do you think that is a saw in his hand?, doesn't look quite right - don't know what useful task he could accomplish in that position - - surely must just be showing off - wonder if he dismounted with a back flip -

5. 
   CAGIV | Feb 05, 2003 03:33am | #23

   Just curious where you came across these?

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Feb 05, 2003 07:14am | #29

   Just curious where you came across these?

   they are in a family album - maybe 200 images from the late 1800s thru 1920 or so with a few later - album was glued up at some later date and things are not in perfect chronological order - these are the  earliest action shots,  everything before this album is portraits - my g-grandparents and their children and friends - a treasure of sorts, are really lucky to have pretty good picts for 5 generations on a couple of sides - here's a pict of my Reed forebears - uncle Tom with the horse,  then my g-grandpa Marion - - my grandmother is the baby in arms of that group - 1892 - the house I grew up in - we've got hundreds... -

   
1. 
   CAGIV | Feb 05, 2003 10:21am | #32

   David,

     It must be nice to have pictures from way back then.  My great grandmother had some from back where she was from (Italy)  but my grandmother has never been able to locate the album, must have been lost somewhere along way.. 

   Thanks for the pictures though, It was cool to see a house going up from way back when.

6. 
   homedesign | Sep 30, 2007 10:37pm | #34

   Digging thru what Rez has pulled from the archive....I like this one

1. 
   rez | Oct 04, 2007 10:07pm | #36

   Perhaps a historical photos subheading somewhere in the Index?

    

1. 
   DavidxDoud | Oct 04, 2007 11:59pm | #37

   ya know, if you don't post to a thread for a long time, the little 'thumbs up' goes away?

   I ought to do this over, put the photos in the right order, and recaption with the knowledge I've aquired since -

    

    

   nah - -

   think I'll head to the tavern instead....

    

    

    "there's enough for everyone"

1. 
   rez | Oct 05, 2007 12:59am | #38

   Didn't know that. Another little piece of Prospero trivia.

   I'm thinking an historical photos subheading somewhere in the Index will be a gimmie.

   be gimmie gimmie    gimmie gimmie

    

   
1. 
   Sphere | Oct 05, 2007 02:17am | #39

   "I'll take "bisexual beaver snack for 200 Alex""Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   "If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"

2. 
   rez | Oct 05, 2007 02:33pm | #40

    

    

    

   be The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

   "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"

   Edited 10/5/2007 7:51 am ET by rez

3. 
   Sphere | Oct 05, 2007 09:35pm | #41

   I thought that, that was R.E.M.  that had that in a song?

    

   Be that record for the most thats in a sentance

   Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

   "If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"

   Edited 10/5/2007 2:36 pm ET by Sphere