Basline Farm House
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I got the tip to this location from a photo contest dated almost 10 years ago. I had my doubts whether it would still be there or not, or if I could even find it. Nevertheless, I had to check it out. After about two hours, one huge ass train that stopped for more than 30 minutes for no reason, and the fact that there are two baseline roads, we managed to find it or what's left of it. When we got there, all that was left was an old shed with it's silo still intact, and the remains of the house. I'm not sure when it was torn down, but judging by the coals all over the place I would guess it burned at one time and was then razed. However, they left the basement with all sorts of junk all over the place.
Update 7/01/05: I was able to procure some pictures of the house before it was torn down. These pictures were taken in the photo context back in '96. You can see how bad of shape the house was in.
Exterior. If you look closely, you can see the crumbling foundation. Courtesy of the Willard Library Archives |
I'm not sure what this room was. Courtesy of the Willard Library Archives |
I think this was the living room. Courtesy of the Willard Library Archives |
What's left of the kitchen. Courtesy of the Willard Library Archives |
The attic. Courtesy of the Willard Library Archives |
Here are the pictures taken when I got there.
The shed with it's silo. | A nice swingset that used to provide entertainment for children years ago. |
Since there wasn't much left but junk all over the place I thought it was be appropriate to check out the remnamts of the house first. All one could see left was piles of brick and burnt coals on the ground. The basement itself had what's left of an old fashioned boiler type furnace that used to provide heat for whatever family that lived there.
At a first glance you can see the furnace and the ruble. | The entrance to what used to be the basement. | A closer look reveals the old furnace and what looks to be the old stairs that led to ground level. |
After checking out the ruins of the house I decided to check out all the miscelaneous stuff around the grounds. What I found was quite interesting.
What looks to be what's left of an oven. | The kicthen sink. Just think how many ditry dishes were washed here. Now it's in the middle of a field. | An old fashioned bike, or what's left of it and some other unintelligible junk. |
After these ruins, I couldn't resist walking over the rest of the boards with nails and tick infested knee high grass to check out the barn. After almost being impaled and later on having to pull off two ticks, I am at the falling over shed.
You can see the poor shape this is in. The washer and drier were placed here. | On this side, you can see the caved in floor and half of a staircase. | Farther down on the same side you can see that this shed was or is still used to store wood. |
Overall, not a horrible waste of time, but it would have been nice to see the old house still standing. Maybe next time.