Stone Walls of New England and New York: If Walls Could Talk

The Library, in collaboration with Wardsboro Curtain Call, presents Stone Walls of New England and New York: If Walls Could Talk, a talk by John W. Delano.

Summary: New York and New England have nearly 200,000 miles of stone walls that were built by 17th-19th century farmers.  With the abandonment of thousands of farms in the mid-19th century, the fields were quickly reclaimed by forests.  As a result, stone walls are now in the woods as silent reminders of past generations who worked the land.  In combination with ancestral information, these old stone walls of New England and New York are an enduring legacy to the hard work and stoic determination of farmers who struggled for survival in a harsh climate. Prior to retiring to Virginia in late 2016, John mapped several miles of stone walls on the lands adjacent to his family's property to discover the stories of the builders of those walls.  In addition, he measured nearly…