SEGMENT: FARMHOUSE; FARM FACILITIES; ENVIRONMENT; FAMILY
Stephen Black>ISM Walk & Talk Interviews>Black, Stephen, Section 1
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- FARMHOUSE
- In 1855 the road was installed on the other side of the house. In 1919 a porch was added. In the 1960s the porch was turned into a room and an office. The house originally faced east because Carrollton lies in that direction. One piece of the original gutter remains. Stephen has a picture from the 1890s of his family standing in the yard in front of the house.
- FARM FACILITIES
- Behind the house there is a building that used to be a chicken house. It has pivoting walls and chicken doors. It is now used as a workshop. They built a barn in 1927. The previous barn was destroyed by a tornado. The tornado hit a one room school house and killed a teacher. The barn hasn't been used much in the last 30 years. They would use horses to lift the hay into the barn.
- ENVIRONMENT
- When the family first came to the area in 1821, the whole area was covered in wild grass eight to ten feet tall. Those kinds of grasses were very flamible and they caused prarie fires; called the fire Messengers of Death. They replaced the wild grass with cold-season grass because they're not a fire hazard. Stephen wants to replant wild grass at some point.
- FARM FACILITIES
- The field was originally very wet and they had to put tiles in by hand. To the north they had woodlands.
- FAMILY
- Stephen's family moved to a nearby farmhouse, where he was raised. His brother stayed and helped his father farm. The families would share work. Margaret Black had 480 acres and some of it was wooded so they could have firewood. They made the bricks of the house from clay in the ground nearby. Bought woodlands to keep firewood.
