Stonewalls & Old Roads

[The Rebel]

I’ve been hiking several old abandoned roads in the woods. They are on the 1867 maps and no houses are shown to be along them. Some of these roads might be 6 miles long.

The old roads in some places are boarded by stonewalls to the left & right, which I figure were put there to help guide travelers by letting them know they were on the main road & not on some side road. In other places the border walls just end and the road continues. When I see the areas with the border walls I feel like I’m coming into an area where a cellar hole might be but I do not see any possible evidence of one, even when there is a definite opening in the wall that says to me come on in.

When looking at the aerial satellite maps I also see stonewalls go off in all directions that are squared off so these must have been pens, grazing fields…etc..

What I can’t figure out is why out in the middle of nowhere they spent so much time squaring these areas off. In my mind there has to be a cellar hole someplace that these squared off areas belonged to.

Love to hear some of your thoughts on the subject.

Thanks in advance,
Roger

 

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[NOLA_Ken]

I think you're probably right in thinking there has to be a home site nearby. Maybe there wasn't a big cellar though. I'd look for brick or stone that could indicate a chimney maybe. Check those aerials for indications of secondary trackways off the main road too.

 

[spartacus53]

Well I can explain the stonewalls

Ever see Shawshank Redemption... Your answer is in the movie

 

[jeff of pa]

many of these walls were built during the Great depression to give people work

see WPA & CCC camps http://www.education.com/study-help/article/great-depression-deal-19291939/