Back around the time of World War I, the S.O.'s grandparents bought a railroad 40 in upper Michigan. It had been logged over for white pine so qualified as a "stump farm." Over the following decade, Matt and Susanna patiently cleared the stumps and, because at least half the property was wetland, ditched the swamp. (The lines for the ditches are still visible in aerial photos.) Family folklore says that it took many years to clear all the stumps -- they were still digging them out and using them for firewood in the late 1920s. End result: not quite 40 acres that were basically wide open cow pasture and hayfield with a little bit of woodlot retained on the rockiest and/or boggiest bits. The building is the sauna, sitting out in the open, a totally cleared area. The photo above was taken in about 1953.
This is a view taken a couple years ago of where that sauna was. 
I do have days at the farm when I miss the view of the railroad tracks.
Thank you for sharing that bit of family history. Do the trains still go by? Can you hear them? For me, that would probably be enough.
ReplyDeleteThere are still trains, although not every day.
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