View Full Version : Old Photo: Sarver Cabin Homestead
Captain Blue
11-13-2007, 10:45
Here is a link to an old photo of the Sarver Cabin Homestead on Sinking Creek Mountain in Virginia:
http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/palmer/full/ep232.jpeg
Captain Blue
Desert Lobster
11-13-2007, 12:28
That sure is an old photo.
When I went through in '93 the small building in front was still standing, but was filled with beer cans and whisky bottles. The larger building had collapsed and the roof was laying on the ground. I camped to one side. The site had a wonderful cold spring.
Weary
Isn't Sinking Creek Mtn. the one that has regular piles of stone in a line? Does anyone know what they were built for?
Isn't Sinking Creek Mtn. the one that has regular piles of stone in a line? Does anyone know what they were built for?
I asked that same question a couple years ago. Someone had the answer but now I forget what it was! It will be interesting to find out again. I hate getting old! :o
Thanks Captain Blue,
I absolutely love historic old photos like this. Adds a great deal to my enjoyment of the outdoors, imagining the varied roles a particular area has played over time.
In 2001 I camped on the ridge above the cabin site. Had to see so I walked down to get water from the spring. Wasn't much left of the pictured buildings then.
The new shelter was being built at the time I stopped.
thecaptain
11-13-2007, 14:29
to answer the question about the piles of stone...they are the remains of stone fences....I live in the area and there are miles of these type of fences in the area
to answer the question about the piles of stone...they are the remains of stone fences....I live in the area and there are miles of these type of fences in the area
They were so big I thought they had to be something more exotic than that. Thanks!
Tankerhoosen
11-13-2007, 19:08
Isn't Sinking Creek Mtn. the one that has regular piles of stone in a line? Does anyone know what they were built for?
Heh heh a question anyone from New England would know the awnser to without asking :)
nitewalker
11-13-2007, 19:17
stonewalls everywhere in new england.. used mainly for property boundries and old house foundatins also i have seen alot of rock dams...peace
Any idea when that was taken?
AT-HITMAN2005
11-13-2007, 20:48
i thought they were ovens of some sort
Heh heh a question anyone from New England would know the awnser to without asking :)
Actually, I grew up in Massachusetts. The stone things on Sinking Creek Mtn. didn't look like anything I'd ever seen before.:rolleyes:
Also, as farmers tilled their fields, they would toss the stones out, and make a stone wall, even on their own land, just separating different fields.
Captain Blue
11-13-2007, 21:17
I don't know when the photo was taken. Here is the link to the online information about the photo:
http://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/view_record.php?URN=ep232
Captain Blue
here is another one w/ that group, http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/palmer/full/ep231.jpeg
I like old photos too, there must be many interesting stories about this old place over the years. I wonder why there are two fireplaces, so close together. Maybe one for cooking and one for heating? Seems unusual to me. :)
three fire places, i've took pics down there last year, there were two chimney's on one side still standing and the hearth remains of the third which was opposite of the other two, i'm pretty sure its the same structure, http://homepage.mac.com/thickredhair/Welcome/PhotoAlbum6.html
Hikerhead
11-13-2007, 22:19
Actually, I grew up in Massachusetts. The stone things on Sinking Creek Mtn. didn't look like anything I'd ever seen before.:rolleyes:
I agree. I think they cleared the land of stones and piled them up. Not for a wall but just to get them out of the way. But they sure took their time and did a nice job of placing each stone in it's right place. I would hate to have been a kid back then. I imagine their dad would say something like...."Son, when school is out run hard to get back home and get up on the hill and stack some more rock. I need two good piles from you today, but stack them neatly. When you get done with that I need some fire wood cut."
What a easy life we live now compared to back then.
rainmaker
11-14-2007, 00:05
Isn't Sinking Creek Mtn. the one that has regular piles of stone in a line? Does anyone know what they were built for?
Madame and I hiked that area in 2005. We met two young Marines , recently back from Iraq, who lived in the area. According to one of them, the large circular piles of rocks were the result of the Sarver boys clearing the mountain top to plant apple trees. Descendants of those trees are still on the mountain. The young man also claimed the Sarver family were living on the mountain top to avoid conscription into the Confederate or Union Armies. Don't know if its true but it sounds plausible and I see no reason why those young men would make this up.
The Solemates
11-14-2007, 10:32
that photo is awesome! I love old stuff like that. I would like to have one hanging in my house..
Isn't Sinking Creek Mtn. the one that has regular piles of stone in a line? Does anyone know what they were built for?
When clearing land to plant crops, rather than haul the rocks away, they just piled them up and planted around them. Most times the piles were later moved to make walls. Fore some reason the piled rocks were never moved and are still there today.
MoodyBluer
04-09-2009, 10:49
here is another one w/ that group, http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/palmer/full/ep231.jpeg
I was a photographer for my high school newspaper in the mid 70's and we used a ton of Kodak Tri Pan X black and white film back in those days...this picture looks almost exactly what we used see in the Tri Pan film...a bit grainy but you can see some contrasting light & shadow just behind the small outbuilding in the foreground that makes me think Tri Pan was used...my guess is from the 60's to early 70's.
McKeever
04-09-2009, 10:58
My guess is that the photo with a 4x5 or better format camera. It was prob taken back in the 20's or 30's right after the land was condemed for the Jeffferson National Forest given the condition of the fence (and the settlers forced off their land). The high contrast on the moutain hollows indicate he waited for just the right light. It's as good as a Mesa photo.
The old homestead today.
http://homepage.mac.com/thickredhair/.Pictures/disk4/DCP_5510.JPG
Roanoker
10-16-2011, 22:35
Hi all... I'm researching Sarver for a story and came across this thread. I live in Roanoke -- about an hour from the Sarver Cabin site, and did a day trip this weekend. What an interesting place. Does anybody have any contacts who know the actual history? The confederate angle is soooo tempting. And those rock piles! Wow. Thanks. Roanoker.14146
Pedaling Fool
10-17-2011, 09:01
Hi all... I'm researching Sarver for a story and came across this thread. I live in Roanoke -- about an hour from the Sarver Cabin site, and did a day trip this weekend. What an interesting place. Does anybody have any contacts who know the actual history? The confederate angle is soooo tempting. And those rock piles! Wow. Thanks. Roanoker.14146Nature always reclaims...
Hope you keep us updated and provide a link to the story once completed. Good Luck.