Ecology Field Trip, Fall 2009: The Ecology class learns how inhabitants at Trapps Hamlet used the land to sustain themselves and how the land has changed since then.
02/01/2010
Trapps Mountain Hamlet was a subsistence community that existed in the Shawangunk Mountains during the 1800s and early 1900s. "Once home to the huckleberry-pickers and stone-cutters of the past century, the Trapps Mountain Hamlet housed as many as 40-50 families by the time of the Civil War. This vanished hamlet now consists of the restored Van Leuven Cabin; 60 cellar holes and foundations of dwellings, mills, barns, a school, a tavern, a chapel, and other structures; over 40 charcoal pits; and four family burying grounds. This historic district is a subsistence hamlet listed on both the New York State and National Register of Historic Places." <--- from the Mohonk Preserve website.
The effects of farming and rural industry can have tremendous impacts on the ecosystem. Abandoned towns offer a unique laboratory to investigate how the land changes after farming and other rural industries cease.
Rocks collected by farmers and put on bedrock outcrops to increase land for pasture & hay (LEFT). Rough-hewn conglomerate millstone -- the men were stone-cutters (RIGHT).
In the cellar hole of Ben Fowler's inn and tavern (LEFT). Ben Fowler (?) (RIGHT). (Trapps Hamlet is now only a ghost town.)
Focused writing assignment at Eli VanLeuven house with the theme "a day in my life," with students taking the role of a member of his family (wife or any of 6 children).
