When I asked my parents if there
were any other places in the vicinity they wanted to check out, Dad suggested
he wanted to see the slate museum in Granville. I’d never heard of it, so
it sounded like a great opportunity to check out. After getting lunch, we
found a parking lot near where we saw a sign. I was the first to realize
the place we pulled into was an old railway station which had been converted to
a bed & breakfast. This is known as
the Station House Bed & Breakfast.
The museum was on the other end of
the lane, but that was still an interesting find. It made be think of the
dilapidated railway building in Elgin (TX) we saw last year, and how that could
be repurposed to be like this. We didn’t go inside, but I included it
here to show it was a possible place for visitors to stay when they come to
this area. I’m sure they’ll appreciate the free advertising also.
The Slate Valley
Museum New
York and Vermont
border where the slate is mined. This vein is about six miles wide by
twenty-four miles long, and produced the livelihood of this area from the late
19th to the early 20th Centuries. There was a whole
section on just the geology of the area, and how this section formed the slate.
Slate is quarried, but what is
interesting is there are imperfect bits (known as “waste slate”) for the first
couple yards below the ground. Waste slate might have deposit of iron
pyrite (fools gold), quartz, or other minerals. These imperfections
weaken the slate, and keep it from being useful as roofing material.
While not exactly a roof, this was
a nice display what showed how shingles made from slate would be designed to
overlap each other. Slate is not light either, so think about how much
weight the structure of a building had to be able to handle.
Many chunks of slate contain
fossilized material, which also cuts down on their usefulness as a building
material. I see these as still very valuable, as we can learn about the
critters whose remains we discover when large slate chunks are split apart.
Most of the fossils have been of nautoilds or other primitive shelled
creatures, but you never know what we might stumble upon.
Large mounds of waste slate were
commonly piled up next to the quarry, because no one had any use for it.
Slate chips are sharp, so you don’t want to use them in road
construction. But if the slate is ground down into pebble-sized pieces,
then it’s useful in zero-scaping or creating walking paths.
A short video gave the most
detailed portions of the history of the area, and how immigrants from various
European countries came here to mine it, and work it into useful shapes.
Slate is still pulled from the area today by some companies which were
founded by some of those who settled here.
Like any mining work, it was hard
and dangerous. Slabs weighing a couple tons were extracted from the
ground, and then pulled up by a massive pulley system. The slate was
separated at the strata layers, and worked down to manageable chunks.
These pieces were places on rail cars (and, in recent years, trucks) to
be transported to their final destination.
The Museum shows some artwork which
could be carved from the slate, as well as various uses it had besides roofing
material. This slate floor is a good example. Some of the squares
on the outer edge bared the names of people or organization that donated money
to help restore the building after the August 2011 flood. I particularly
like the name of this unknown donor.
Additionally, there were displays
here on the cultures of the people who relocated to the area, and how this
became a melting pot. Of course I’m going to find the information on the
Irish the most interesting. No matter where the Irish went, they had to
be told to watch what they say. I was amused at how some things don’t
change.
When walking around the grounds
outside, there’s no evidence of the height of the flood waters, which were the
result of Tropical Storm Irene. There
are some pictures inside the museum taken at that time show the depth of a few
feet in the parking lot. Look at the
picture of the exterior of the building above, and you can see there are two
horizontal black bars to the lower left of the sign. The flood waters reached to the lower
one. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but
in the picture of the slate pile below, you can see (in the upper left section)
the maintenance building for the museum.
This whole section I was standing in was underwater when the Mettowee River
These piles, which are set in a
section about five or six feet below the ground floor of the museum.
Water was going to hurt any of these pieces, but it was just interesting
to keep in mind. There are many kinds of
slate boulders piled here to show different textures and color that slate has.
Behind the museum there was a small
picnic area, and a covered bridge which crossed the river. We had
commented to the guide that after seeing this place, we were going to head over
to the nearby Pember
Museum
The last time I was at the Pember Museum
The first floor of the Pember Museum
The building is filled with stuffed
specimens of various animals, most of which were birds and mammals, as well as
displays of shells, corals, eggs, and insects. There were also some
bones, rocks, and gems from various places. All the items were in large
glass cases, and each critter had a card next to it with its name, taxidermy
designation, and where it was from.
There was so much to see and
absorb, it’s worth it to see the types of animals here. I completely
enjoyed soaking up the area, but I limited my picture taking to the things I
liked or found the most interesting. My
affinity to the beach drew me to the large collection of sponges and corals…
…The eggs of extinct bird species,
like the passenger pigeon and the great auk…
…To things which I could have some
simple fun with (which would satisfy my twisted sense of humor). In the cases with the various stuffed birds,
I noted two of a particular type of tropical seabird, known as the booby. So, I made sure to take a picture of a pair
of nice boobies. >grin<
My goofy fun aside, it was great to
see critters I wouldn’t normally see. I
admit that I’d rather see live specimens at a zoo, but considering the wide
range of habitats the Pembers collected these from, I don’t know if a zoo could
effectively hold them all. The leopard
cat from Indonesia
(which looks rather surprised here), doesn’t share the same climate as the
sable antelope or the golden eagle.
Although one thing I wasn’t able to
accurately get answered was how Franklin Pember acquired all these
specimens. It was mentioned that he
“collected mounted birds and mammals,” but it was less clear if he actually
hunted these animals himself, or if he purchased them from someone who did.
It wasn’t going to hurt my
enjoyment of the place at all, as these were things obtained by a “gentleman of
independent means” over one-hundred years ago.
The fact was he was able to travel the world in a time when a
long-distance journey was not easy, and he brought back souvenirs of the places
he visited. Looking back, the how is
less important. Because Franklin Pember
and his wife were able collect these things, we’re able to enjoy these displays
today. This is a window to a different
time period. The animals featured here
are noted if they’re extinct, threatened, or whatever their status is. This is a great learning experience to see
how diverse life is, and learn about things perhaps you never knew about.
It won’t take long to go through
the entire museum, and this coupled with the neighboring Slate Valley
Museum Pember Museum
More information can be found on the places we visited (or
were mentioned) at:
Station House: http://www.stationhousebb.com/
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