masshysteria
Member
Jim Moore and I had our appetites whetted on a trip we took last month up to the Pulpit Rock area of Sykes Mountain in Pittsfield/Washington. Judging by the amount of stone quarries evident on the mountain, we decided another trip to look for the cellar holes and quarries of the Sykes(Sikes) families was in order. The attack plan was to come in from the upper end of Sykes Mountain Road in October Mountain State Forest.
Armed with copies of the Beers Atlas of 1876, topo maps from 1890, and some orange gear to keep us out of the trajectory of deer hunters, we started out in New Lenox on the Whitney Place Road. Passing a few trucks parked along the way made us glad we wore some orange clothing, but we still had a little trepidation. Upon reaching the turn off for Sykes Mountain Road, we saw that the area had been logged off a couple of years ago. We had hoped the logging didn't extend to the top of the mountain, where any cellar holes or quarries might be obscured. After gaining the top of the ridge, the logging ceased, and we were greeted with fairly open woods.
With Jim on one side of the trail, and I on the other, we walked parallel to the trail about 50 feet into the woods. Beers showed 2 buildings to have existed past the first major curve in the trail. Sure enough, a cellar hole and a large raised area, perhaps a barn. Beers had this labeled as belonging to a W Baggins. If we owned a metal detector, we would have scoured the area looking for relics. Farther along, Beers had 2 more buildings owned by a JC McLufkin. Sure enough, there they were, including a 4 sided pen of stone, probably for holding livestock. All around the foundation were the dead trunks of black locust trees, not a native species to be found in these woods. Being a valuable wood for fence posts and the like, these were probably the descendants of trees that McLufkin had planted to supply himself with. Across the road from here, there were exposed ledges that had obviously been worked, still evident after almost 150 years.
Next to find was the cellar hole of a member of the Sykes Family, Abithar Sykes. Sure enough, there it was, with much small scale quarrying around the cellar hole. We have found records from the City of Pittsfield that Abithar, his brother Hiram and their father Amos Sykes, were all quarrymen who sold stone to the city. They also quarried the stone that was used to build ST. Helena's Church in New Lenox, and St. Andrews Church in Washington. We're still looking for that quarry.
Just below Abithar's should have been the foundation of Hiram's house. Scouring the woods, we found no evidence of any habitation.
Having to return back up the mountain the way we came, we opted to bushwack right over the top of the mountain to get back to the starting point. We did find an exposed ledge that had a couple of crevice caves in them, obvious homes to many a porcupine. We never did see any bow hunters, but then again, they may have seen/heard us and kept quiet. An interesting hike in the woods, on a beautiful day, that felt a little like going back in time.
After returning, I spent the afternoon in the local history dept. of the Pittsfield Library, looking for info on the Sykes family. I was able to find a fair amount of info, but most intriguing was a report that there was a fire in 1895 at the Hiram Sykes home, which destroyed it completely. That explains why we didn't find any remains of his house.
pics; http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/575472939gErzet
Armed with copies of the Beers Atlas of 1876, topo maps from 1890, and some orange gear to keep us out of the trajectory of deer hunters, we started out in New Lenox on the Whitney Place Road. Passing a few trucks parked along the way made us glad we wore some orange clothing, but we still had a little trepidation. Upon reaching the turn off for Sykes Mountain Road, we saw that the area had been logged off a couple of years ago. We had hoped the logging didn't extend to the top of the mountain, where any cellar holes or quarries might be obscured. After gaining the top of the ridge, the logging ceased, and we were greeted with fairly open woods.
With Jim on one side of the trail, and I on the other, we walked parallel to the trail about 50 feet into the woods. Beers showed 2 buildings to have existed past the first major curve in the trail. Sure enough, a cellar hole and a large raised area, perhaps a barn. Beers had this labeled as belonging to a W Baggins. If we owned a metal detector, we would have scoured the area looking for relics. Farther along, Beers had 2 more buildings owned by a JC McLufkin. Sure enough, there they were, including a 4 sided pen of stone, probably for holding livestock. All around the foundation were the dead trunks of black locust trees, not a native species to be found in these woods. Being a valuable wood for fence posts and the like, these were probably the descendants of trees that McLufkin had planted to supply himself with. Across the road from here, there were exposed ledges that had obviously been worked, still evident after almost 150 years.
Next to find was the cellar hole of a member of the Sykes Family, Abithar Sykes. Sure enough, there it was, with much small scale quarrying around the cellar hole. We have found records from the City of Pittsfield that Abithar, his brother Hiram and their father Amos Sykes, were all quarrymen who sold stone to the city. They also quarried the stone that was used to build ST. Helena's Church in New Lenox, and St. Andrews Church in Washington. We're still looking for that quarry.
Just below Abithar's should have been the foundation of Hiram's house. Scouring the woods, we found no evidence of any habitation.
Having to return back up the mountain the way we came, we opted to bushwack right over the top of the mountain to get back to the starting point. We did find an exposed ledge that had a couple of crevice caves in them, obvious homes to many a porcupine. We never did see any bow hunters, but then again, they may have seen/heard us and kept quiet. An interesting hike in the woods, on a beautiful day, that felt a little like going back in time.
After returning, I spent the afternoon in the local history dept. of the Pittsfield Library, looking for info on the Sykes family. I was able to find a fair amount of info, but most intriguing was a report that there was a fire in 1895 at the Hiram Sykes home, which destroyed it completely. That explains why we didn't find any remains of his house.
pics; http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/575472939gErzet
