The rain held off until after noon, so any parades and ceremonies held today will have stayed dry. It's cloudy now and we've had a shower a few minutes ago but no thunder storms - yet!

Bill Rossi was asking yesterday about the granite industry in West Danville. He was surprised that there was a stoneshed about where the beach is now, and of course the railroad station was there, too, so it was very convenient. There were lots of other businesses in West Danville in the 1800's. I wrote a story a few years ago that involved the stoneshed, so I dug it out and Fred has posted it on the web site history page. Turns out it's an appropriate story for today, Memorial Day. If you're interested, here it is: Joe's Pond Sentry

I think I may have in the past mentioned some of the businesses that used to be in West Danville, but here are some I know about from visits to the Danville Historical Society and other historical records. There were a couple of grist mills and one was near the railroad tracks so shipping was easier. There was Farrington's grist mill and also one operated by Barron's, but I don't know without researching if they operated at the same time or were the same mill operated at different times by different owners. It is interesting that at the falls (I imagine were the dam is now) there was a 75 foot drop and one history account mentioned it was "never failing." This provided excellent power for mills. There was a sawmill that not only supplied lumber, but manufactured butter tubs, shingles, etc. Note in the photo at the right that the hillside is completely barren of trees.

There were also a couple of general merchants and a hotel. West Danville was the hub for farmers on either side of the pond in the early days, and when the railroad finally opened on July 17, 1877, there was a surge in prosperity for the region. Farmers were able to ship their products to the cities and manufactured goods and raw materials that were difficult or impossible to obtain before were now accessible. That also marked a surge in tourism to the area. Families could escape from the heat in the cities to spend the summer at Joe's Pond. Some built summer homes on the water, some stayed at nearby hotels. The railroad gave employment as section men to many in the area. Another flourishing industry was ice cutting. In the winter men cut and stored ice from the pond to supply merchants, hotels and homeowners in the area during the hot summer months. The railroad used ice to keep products fresh in transit, as well.

This is just a quick overview of the industries I've come across that existed in West Danville in the 1800's. If you are interested in learning more about this, you might visit the Danville Historical Society - call Margaret Springer, 684-3857 to find out when they are open; or ask Jane Larrabee. Jane has a wealth of information and lots of wonderful photographs of West Danville. Both the above photos came from Jane. Notice in the photo of the railroad station that across the water you can plainly see the school house. That was moved when Rt. 2 was paved around 1927, and is the building we now see where Larrabee's Building Supply used to be, directly across from the public beach. The windows were changed to the opposite side of the building to take advantage of the south sunshine, but basically it has remained the same over the years, with grades one through four downstairs and five through eight upstairs. I went to school there for a couple of years when my mother taught there.