OK, this is cool! I have been driving by this site for 40 years, and never seemed to have the time to stop and photograph it. On Sunday I finally stopped and made this photograph. It is a strange looking facility, with a building that looks like a dormitory, and it is unusual to see a water tower as well. So I searched the internet with no luck, and finally looked up the Tompkins County historian and found an email address and wrote to him asking what he knew about this facility. I was thrilled that he replied right away! Here is what he wrote: "You are referring to the remnants of the Tompkins County Farm...the Poor House, if you will. Off the top of my head...the older wood frame building... 1847 and the later brick building... 1892.....Went out of use in the 1980's. Is currently owned by the "Twelve Tribes". They have cleaned up the exteriors but the interiors are a shambles and very unsafe in places." Wow, how cool is that! Good that I didn't try to go inside, as is my usual custom. The Twelve Tribes are a Christian fundamentalist movement that has been in existence since 1972. Who knows what is coming next.
4 comments:
Interesting. Glad you did not wait another 40 years to inquire :-) What town is this in?
Joan
It is in Trumansburg, NY, just above Ithaca. Ithaca is half way between Binghamton and Rochester, more or less.
I had the same reaction as Joan. I am glad you didn't wait any longer to found out about this property. And isn't it wonderful that you received information back so quickly. bsk
I'm looking for information about the County Farm and was wondering who was the historian you e-mailed? Would you be able to give me his e-mail address, I'm researching my family history and one of my descendants ended up in the County Farm and I'm trying to locate any information about his time there, if possible.
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