Up the road in the village of Dartford there was a grist mill and a post office, butcher and grocery store.Dumpdiggers doesn't know much about this place, but we do have an 1878 map.
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On Sunday October 12th, 2008 I walked around Dartford Ontario and took pictures of old buildings and tried to imagine the workings of the village one hundred years ago. Its easy to see where certain roads and wagon trails there once popular have been forgotten and overgrown with the passage of time.
As the wheel of fortune spins, I happened across and old friend named Audrey and her daughter Tanya who were making room for something in their back shed.I invited myself inside and in the spirit of Marshal Gummer, The Appraiser, I found myself surrounded by in veritable cornucopia of old and new age collectibles. This building was the repository of seven decades of stuff, and the very oldest material was deposited here by Bert Dalmage himself, for this building was his workshop fifty years ago.
While exploring an old barn looking for stuff to sell on eBay, and otherwise valuable antique merchandise with a friend and local supporter of Dumpdiggers.com, I happened across some wonderful collectibles on which to experiment.
Stay tuned for more posts on each piece - linked to sales on eBay and tables in the Dumpdiggers.com Underground Show and Sale.
Re: Dartford ON.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Dartford. My house was the old grocery/post office/gas station. The house in the photo used to be the blong to the mill owner or his family I believe. It still has wood siding and had the original hardwood flooring (that creeks a lot!) the last time I was there a few years back. The foundation was built with large stones from the lot and concrete. It's quite a large house. There have been two sucessive antique stores run from the front room, but not any more.
Unfortunately the old Mill house in the adjacent lot burnt down in 2005, but the dam is still there. A shame since it was a very beautiful and well-preserved house.
It's interesting to hear that you enjoyed the finds in Audrey's barn. I used to play in there all the time when I was little, and always found the collection fascinating, though it never occured to me it could be valuable. There was also an old maple shack or something in the forest further down the road which fell in years ago, and a rusted out maple syrup boiler under the fallen leaves to the west a kilometer or so.
There is still good hunting in the area. I've seen deer, bear tacks, geese galore and even a pack of coyotes running across the frozen pond. Elderberries, fiddleheads and wild grapes grow in abundance - if you know where to look. Also on a note of interest, you can still make out the original course of the creek before it was dammed into the pond, by the large watter-logged stumps visable through the water. If you ever get the chance to canoe up the pond, I recommend it!
- Tonya