Greenwood the large expanse of woods on the eastern side of Deerbow, is not a full virgin forest. It has been harvested before. It was developed before. The seven bridges are a good examples of that. Upper Trestle, Upper Bridge, Visitor Center Bridge, and in the swamp, the Cooper Trestle, Oberst-Dettenger Bridge, the Old Trestle, and the Lower Bridge. All of them are strange to see for the first time. You will be walking along a trail, and then a bridge will appear next to the trail. The old roads or rail that used to lead to them, are gone. They are all closed to any traffic, except for the Visitor Center Bridge. But people still climb them. One of the high schools has a tradition, of all the senor boys cross the Cooper Trestle the night before graduation.
High Tower is a large, tall rock formation, that you can see for miles around Greenwoods. Near it is a small bog and Indian burial mounds. This is one of the few areas that was never developed. These are the oldest trees in Greenwoods. you can take the stairs to the top of High Tower and see most of Deerbow over the river. Another place that has stories about it. It was a sacrificial rock, it was used to observe the night sky, river pirates used it to look for law enforcement, and a UFO landing pad.
Indian Burial mounds there are unique in the state for the fact. Not once, never, in the history of the development of Deerbow has anyone wanted to touch those mounds. Even Strake and Thorson left them alone. We have been to the mounds after I changed. There is a very good reason why the mounds are not touched. But I can't talk about it.
By the way, the rumors of the man that seduces the young women. True.
Is Greenwoods the type of place you want to take a walk through?
Showing posts with label Strake and Thorson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strake and Thorson. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Founding Fathers of Deerbow
I've been telling you about some of the urban legends of this town and I never told you about the "big men". I never care to learn about it in high school. It wasn't until a year or so ago I started to look into the past of the city. There are some rich tales there, someone could make a mini series out of them.
The two biggest names were Strake and Thorson. They were the lumber barons of the city. Deerbow would not be much of a place to live if it hadn't been for them founding their lumber company here. Where the Deerbow River forks off, they had built their first mill. It was a perfect place. The logs would come down stream and they would stack them on the piece of land that juts out into the river (Jacob's Landing).
They built a big empire here. They were not as rich as the Rockerfeller's, but they were well off. Of course they were pillars of the community. Strake gave all the land to the University. Thorson built theaters (for his wife, because she missed the theater life in New York). There are schools named after them, there are hospitals, their names are all over Deerbow.
There was a dark side to the men as well. Thorson was the bad guy of the duo. Rumors of him cheating business associates, possibly killing one, there are stories of his strange taste in women. But the one that I remember from childhood was what had happened at the mill.
He might have been Deerbow's first serial killer. Long before OSHA, long before safety regulations, business owners like him could cut as many corners as they needed to make a profit. There were a lot of accidents at the mill. Many fatal. But, the odd thing was, most of the accidents happened to people that crossed Thorson. I remember a friend of my father's telling me that her grandfather had been a foreman at the mill. He was often asked not to be in certain areas at certain times. And at those times, people died.
There is so much more, I will write about them later.
Any stories like that where you live?
The two biggest names were Strake and Thorson. They were the lumber barons of the city. Deerbow would not be much of a place to live if it hadn't been for them founding their lumber company here. Where the Deerbow River forks off, they had built their first mill. It was a perfect place. The logs would come down stream and they would stack them on the piece of land that juts out into the river (Jacob's Landing).
They built a big empire here. They were not as rich as the Rockerfeller's, but they were well off. Of course they were pillars of the community. Strake gave all the land to the University. Thorson built theaters (for his wife, because she missed the theater life in New York). There are schools named after them, there are hospitals, their names are all over Deerbow.
There was a dark side to the men as well. Thorson was the bad guy of the duo. Rumors of him cheating business associates, possibly killing one, there are stories of his strange taste in women. But the one that I remember from childhood was what had happened at the mill.
He might have been Deerbow's first serial killer. Long before OSHA, long before safety regulations, business owners like him could cut as many corners as they needed to make a profit. There were a lot of accidents at the mill. Many fatal. But, the odd thing was, most of the accidents happened to people that crossed Thorson. I remember a friend of my father's telling me that her grandfather had been a foreman at the mill. He was often asked not to be in certain areas at certain times. And at those times, people died.
There is so much more, I will write about them later.
Any stories like that where you live?
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Urban Legends of Greenwoods
Greenwoods is a large expanse of protected woods on the eastern side of Deerbow City. A wonderful place if you ever visit. You can hike, walk, and run during the summer and in the winter cross country ski. Considering that this was part of the city in the 1800's the woods have grown back very nicely.
And there are stories.
In case you don't know the history of Deerbow City. It was made by the lumber and meat packing barons. Greenwoods was supposed to be their wonderfully planned community. They hired some of the top architects to plan out streets and neighborhoods. One place was built, then nothing. The lumber barons moved in to clear out the lumber. See that was the last deal. They would get the timber as the land was cleared. They wanted the wood no matter what. But that never happened. The logging started. Got stopped. Started again. There were accidents and murders. The logging companies finally stopped all together.
The stories started when the logging companies moved in. Remember I said accidents and murder. Well one of the companies, Strake and Thorson, they were starting to cut down the woods across the river from the University. One of the foremen got into a fight with one of the workers. The worker returned that night and killed the foremen. Since then people say the foreman's ghost haunts the woods.
One of the recent ones, is a bit odd. The university students go to Greenwoods a lot. One of the trails is maintained by the cross country team. The rumor is that along that path, there is a man that lives there. Apparently, a lot of the women that use that trail have met him. He must be a charmer, because the stories end with them having sex with him. The odd part about that story is that Andi, the waitress at the Rathskeller told me that she had two room mates that swear it happened to them.
There is the missing village as well. It was the only part of the development I talked about before that had been completed. It was used by Strake and Thorson to house their workers. You can find pictures of it as recently as 1965. But then it disappeared. No one has been able to find it since then.
Do you have places like this where you live?
And there are stories.
In case you don't know the history of Deerbow City. It was made by the lumber and meat packing barons. Greenwoods was supposed to be their wonderfully planned community. They hired some of the top architects to plan out streets and neighborhoods. One place was built, then nothing. The lumber barons moved in to clear out the lumber. See that was the last deal. They would get the timber as the land was cleared. They wanted the wood no matter what. But that never happened. The logging started. Got stopped. Started again. There were accidents and murders. The logging companies finally stopped all together.
The stories started when the logging companies moved in. Remember I said accidents and murder. Well one of the companies, Strake and Thorson, they were starting to cut down the woods across the river from the University. One of the foremen got into a fight with one of the workers. The worker returned that night and killed the foremen. Since then people say the foreman's ghost haunts the woods.
One of the recent ones, is a bit odd. The university students go to Greenwoods a lot. One of the trails is maintained by the cross country team. The rumor is that along that path, there is a man that lives there. Apparently, a lot of the women that use that trail have met him. He must be a charmer, because the stories end with them having sex with him. The odd part about that story is that Andi, the waitress at the Rathskeller told me that she had two room mates that swear it happened to them.
There is the missing village as well. It was the only part of the development I talked about before that had been completed. It was used by Strake and Thorson to house their workers. You can find pictures of it as recently as 1965. But then it disappeared. No one has been able to find it since then.
Do you have places like this where you live?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)