#2484 "Pioneer Sugar Maple"

In mid March I headed out to paint some trees and maybe some snow. 

A pair of large trees on the south side of the Pioneer Homestead had caught my eye years ago. I figured it was time to record them even though the snow had melted the previous day. 

These trees were probably of respectable size when the pioneers started their families in the 1800's. Henry Latimer was the first owner of Lot 4 which he purchased on May 24th, 1824. William Tye bought 100 of the 120 acres on April 15th, 1859. There were several owners after that the the names were generally Tye, Covey or Sheffield up to 1973. The 175 acres of Lot 5 houses the Pioneer Homestead and Privy and it was bought by John Blades on October 13th, 1821. Various Sheffields and a few Tye's owned Lot 5 thereafter.

The twenty foot square pioneer home had a dug basement and maybe interior rooms. It would have been high and dry perched on top of the marble ridge. The barn and shed were just a hundred yards to the northeast. The pioneers were surrounded by the forests and the fields that they worked. These trees would have provided shade from the summer heat while allowing the winter sun to shine through and provide warmth during the colder months. That same sun was warming my back as I painted. The rocks of the old foundation were still to be found. Most of the foundation walls had already tumbled into the dug root cellar. 

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