People Made A Difference

Hard working ancestors of the past, created homes and communities. They cleared land, farmed and harvested crops. The early years was the time when pioneers were first on the land. They worked hard just to clear little areas and plant enough to feed themselves through the winter months of the year. Once established, they could start looking for ways to sell any extra crops and goods that they had.

Building Communities

As the number of people settling in an area increased, not everyone ended up on a farm homestead. The surveyors had also mapped out areas for future towns. Some folks chose to become part of a town site. People needed food supplies that could not be grown locally, salt and spices from other countries, cloth woven back in England and Europe and brought by ship to the new world. Towns brought carpenters, blacksmiths, wheel makers, barrel makers, doctors, shop keepers and clergy to tend the religious comforts of everyone.

Growing Towns of the Past

Now people looked towards the community village as a place to buy the things they could not grow or make themselves. They needed better cloth for dress-up wear, barrels for storing salted meat and vegetables. Furniture, including beds, dressers, tables and chairs and even new buildings all came into existence at the hands of carpenters. Stone masons could shape local stone for buildings. Dry Goods Shops, watch makers, tailors and teachers, all were part of the growing community.

Getting From Here to There

As the community grew, the little footpaths and trails were no longer sufficient for the amount of traffic passing back and forth from country-side to hamlet and home again. Now roadways needed to be made. Where before were stands of maple and pine, now came men cutting down the giant trees to make space for carts and wagons to pass through. At first the trees were chopped and cut down, but enormous stumps were left behind. It wasn’t much of a roadway, except in winter when the depth of hard-packed snow covered over the stumps. Time and yearly hours of labor would gradually clear the road for horse drawn wagons, not just winter time sleighs. Stage coach travel became a new service offered from the village to places far across the countryside.