Work In Progress

Spec/Lithia . Botetourt County

This place is up the road from the old truck I showed you yesterday...a man driving by said that this was the old stagecoach road and this house was the inn or hotel back then...someone lives there now...it looks like they are adding on!

Today I am thankful for this great spring-like weather we have been having this week...I don't want it to end...but like all good things, it will...but it will be back! Right now I have the door open listening to the birds...I saw Daffodils blooming yesterday and Forsythia...it won't be long till the Redbuds, Dogwoods and Pear Trees bloom! Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Bucket Of Bolts

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Spec . Botetourt County

When we were out looking for the old abandoned cannery last month, we also found this neat old truck!


The miles this old truck must have travelled!


I can picture this parked on the side of the road on a summer day with the bed filled with produce for sale...a long time ago...


A part of a clue but I'm going to need a little more info that that!




It's almost camouflaged in there...

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Fringer Canning Company of Lithia

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I think it was last week when I showed you the commissary...well this is just a little bit up the road from there and from what I can gather it was originally a mine called SPEC for the type of ore mined there called "Specular Hermatite"...the company owned the housing, about 12-15 houses, the commissary and the power plant which is this building...the mine shut down in 1926 or 27...


Going in to investigate...


Be warned, I'm probably going to show you every detail so jump ship now if you're thinkin' "ain't no one got time for dat"...


I was in arch Heaven!


So in the 1930's the Fringer Canning Company took over the former Spec Power Plant and ran until the 1950's canning tomatoes, peaches, apples and beans under the Banner Mill Brand...you can see a copy of the label if you CLICK HERE




You knew we were going to have to go up those stairs didn't ya? They were surprisingly sturdy!


A portal...hellloooo down there....


It's kind of like this arch was made as an after-thought...


Everybody is busy checking things out...


Potty break anyone?


This must have fallen off a piece of equipment...it says...Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. No. 125...just so you know :)






The train came by (remember I showed a picture of the front last week?)...I thought it was kind of neat to get a picture of "strange" since this building was a little strange, in a good way!



Something leaked out of that can years ago!


That little white spot is ice...it was the only ice we saw anywhere in or around the building...it was freezing outside, but this was the only tiny bit of ice...weird huh?!


Time for us to be going now...I'll show you more sights around Spec next Tuesday!


Oh look, that little building with the green roof is the commissary!

Some links I used for info are HERE and HERE
And while I didn't see anything about the Fringer Cannery HERE is an interesting read about canning and labels in this area!

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

If you made it through this whole post today, you're a trooper!

Oh and one more thing...while searching around the net I found that Black Dawg Salvage had been out to the Fringer Cannery and salvaged a few things...it's Season 3, Episode 12 titled Fringer Cannery...I'm going to see if it's available On Demand!

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 158

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It's Willy Nilly time!

A small tour of Spec...

1)
This pretty old house sits across from the abandoned commissary I showed you...

2)
And so does this house...

3)
A butterfly? That's what I see anyway!

4)
Moose...???

5)
Here comes the train!

That's my 5 this week friends! I hope you have the time to join in too! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Have a great weekend :)

Private Property

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Spec . Botetourt County

I don't know about you but that bridge looks a little rickety!

Today I am thankful for a short visit from my older son Christian...I was just about running out the door as he was coming in...he stopped by to pick up some receipts so he could exchange some shirts I had gotten him for Christmas...I bought him large shirts but he's just a medium...I bumped him up to large because the boys are mediums now...how in the world did they catch up to their big brother in size??? We chatted for about a half an hour, exchanged hugs and "I love yous" and then we were both out the door again...I just don't see enough of that boy but am thankful for the times that I do!

Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Black & White Wednesday

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Maier Farm Road . Spec . Botetourt County

Back to school today...trying to get into routine again! Happy Wednesday :)

Old Commissary

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Remember on Friday I told you I was going to show you so much more on Tom's Tuesday's Treasures? Well I didn't lie so have a seat and let's go!

Maier Farm Road . Spec . Botetourt County

We weren't sure what this little abandoned building was at the time but doing some heavy Googling I discovered that this was the Old Commissary or Fringer General Store. Spec was a little mining town and this was the commissary for the mine workers back in the early 1900's!








I really, really loved this door knob!


Dalton giving Kaile a little help so she can look inside the window ;)



Ok, you want to have a peek inside don't you?!

These were all taken from the windows...we could have actually jumped right in but I was too chicken...


Time to go and see what's up the road! (I'll show you that next week!)


My exploring sidekicks!

Some facts and links for ya:
I found one of those "Google Books" that had some interesting info on the store, you can see that right HERE ...there's also a picture of the store with a Mr. Vassar standing in front, I think it is from the 40's/50's...funny, the boys have a friend by the last name Vassar...wonder if he is related to this man?!

I also found a good story in the Richmond Times about Spec and they interviewed a life-long resident, Mr. Bobby Falls...You can read that HERE and there are also some more pictures in the news story...not too long of a story but interesting just the same...

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

And in current news, school is closed for the 3rd time in a row...that makes Friday, Monday and today! I'm not complaining...we had ice yesterday and overnight so the roads were bad...before it started to ice yesterday I drove the boys to the Bedford DMV and they took the test and got their learners permits...The ladies at the DMV were so nice and the Bedford location is easy to get in and out of ....really no wait at all...all the ladies congratulated the boys on passing and said they don't like to normally get twins to come in and test because usually one will pass and the other won't which is upsetting so they were quite excited that both the boys passed!

Also, our weather will be out of the freezing range for the first time in like 2 weeks! We will be in the upper 40's which will feel like beach weather considering!

Ok, that's about all, I've caught you up now :)