“Cobblestone Quest,” a new book, answers the question “Is that a potato house?” as it leads visitors on 17 driving tours of cobblestone buildings, a folk art unique to the Western New York State area.
July 5, 2005 (Press Release) --
Fishers, NY:
Visitors to Western New York State may ask themselves this question as they pass an abundance of unusual buildings. An architectural student from New York City certainly did, as he drove to visit the Landmark Society of Western New York. After arriving, he asked Cynthia Howk, the Architectural Research Coordinator, “what are those potato houses I passed on the way to Rochester?”
They aren’t potato houses, they’re cobblestone houses – houses built with fist-sized stones called cobblestones. And, they’re more special (and certainly more durable) than any potato house could ever be.
Over 700 cobblestone buildings are found within a 65-mile radius of Rochester, New York, and nowhere else. They’re so common here that they’re often taken for granted. But, each is a unique work of folk art that tells the story of our pioneer history.
The cobblestones, brought south by glaciers, and rounded by Lake Ontario wave action, were an impediment to the early settlers who tried to farm the land until they hit upon the idea of using them as an inexpensive building material. It evolved into an art form with each mason developing his artistic creativity over time.
Cobblestone homeowner Margaret Deans counted the stones in her home and estimated that it took 14,402 cobblestones to build her circa-1860 farmhouse. Houses were not the only buildings erected with cobblestone construction. The same method was used to build churches, schools, mills, barns, stores, shops, factories, carriage houses, garden houses, gate and toll houses, smokehouses, pumphouses, hophouses, privies, stables, turniphouses, piggeries, decorative walls along roadways, and even cemetery markers and cemetery receiving vaults. Many of the cobblestone buildings are standing and still in use, a testament to their fine craftsmanship.
The cobblestone buildings are clustered in a region that begs a driving tour. Well, maybe not just one, but 17 different driving tours. “Cobblestone Quest” (Footprint Press, www.footprintpress.com, 1-800-431-1579) is a new guidebook that inspires cobblestone discovery tours and explains the history behind these unusual buildings. Among the cobblestone buildings are museums, bed and breakfasts, and restaurants where explorers can touch and smell the cobblestone buildings and prove once and for all that they’re not potato houses.
The authors, Rich & Sue Freeman are natives of the Rochester area, and authors of 12 outdoor recreation guidebooks to the region. For more information on the Freemans and “Cobblestone Quest” visit www.footprintpress.com.
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photos available
Visitors to Western New York State may ask themselves this question as they pass an abundance of unusual buildings. An architectural student from New York City certainly did, as he drove to visit the Landmark Society of Western New York. After arriving, he asked Cynthia Howk, the Architectural Research Coordinator, “what are those potato houses I passed on the way to Rochester?”
They aren’t potato houses, they’re cobblestone houses – houses built with fist-sized stones called cobblestones. And, they’re more special (and certainly more durable) than any potato house could ever be.
Over 700 cobblestone buildings are found within a 65-mile radius of Rochester, New York, and nowhere else. They’re so common here that they’re often taken for granted. But, each is a unique work of folk art that tells the story of our pioneer history.
The cobblestones, brought south by glaciers, and rounded by Lake Ontario wave action, were an impediment to the early settlers who tried to farm the land until they hit upon the idea of using them as an inexpensive building material. It evolved into an art form with each mason developing his artistic creativity over time.
Cobblestone homeowner Margaret Deans counted the stones in her home and estimated that it took 14,402 cobblestones to build her circa-1860 farmhouse. Houses were not the only buildings erected with cobblestone construction. The same method was used to build churches, schools, mills, barns, stores, shops, factories, carriage houses, garden houses, gate and toll houses, smokehouses, pumphouses, hophouses, privies, stables, turniphouses, piggeries, decorative walls along roadways, and even cemetery markers and cemetery receiving vaults. Many of the cobblestone buildings are standing and still in use, a testament to their fine craftsmanship.
The cobblestone buildings are clustered in a region that begs a driving tour. Well, maybe not just one, but 17 different driving tours. “Cobblestone Quest” (Footprint Press, www.footprintpress.com, 1-800-431-1579) is a new guidebook that inspires cobblestone discovery tours and explains the history behind these unusual buildings. Among the cobblestone buildings are museums, bed and breakfasts, and restaurants where explorers can touch and smell the cobblestone buildings and prove once and for all that they’re not potato houses.
The authors, Rich & Sue Freeman are natives of the Rochester area, and authors of 12 outdoor recreation guidebooks to the region. For more information on the Freemans and “Cobblestone Quest” visit www.footprintpress.com.
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photos available
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