MEMOIRof

EARL & LAURA JOHNSON

Transcript of a taped interview

Narrator: Earl & Laura Johnson

Tape: # 39 A&B

Date: January 13, 1986

Place of interview: The Johnsons’ home in Lime Rock, CT.

Interviewer: Robert Steck

Laura contributes the most to the interview: however both Laura and Earl have recalled their memories of the area, Taconic and Lime Rock. If the reader is familiar with Taconic and Lime Rock it is easier to recognize the places they refer to. Laura grew up in Taconic and they have resided in their Lime Rock home since 1953. They make many observations comparing the town they grew up in and the town as it is now. Unfortunately, there are parts of the interview that are unclear and difficult to transcribe.

1986

Property of the Oral History Project

Salisbury Association at Scoville Memorial Library

Salisbury, CT 06068

 

EARL AND LAURA JOHNSON

Interviewed at their home in Lime Rock, Connecticut January 13, 1986 Interviewer: Bob Steck

We will start with Laura. Tells us about what you remember growing up in Taconic? When were you born? What were your family like and your relationship with others in the area.

Well, I remember a town full of young people. Maybe it is turning around now with a lot of families coming from someplace else, but when we grew up there it was very alive with children. There were lots of children there. As a matter of fact, there was a two-room school house which was the home of Melanie Barber who died in the last couple of years, I think. Before she bought that building it was a school house and that is where I went to school my first year.

If we pick the site of the school house, can you do that in relation to where the post office is now?

It’s across the street from the post office, directly across the street. It’s hard to even see now because someone, probably Mrs. Barber planted a lot of evergreen trees. I don’t know that you can really notice it. But it is a big building and it was a school house.

Did you start in kindergarten?

First grade

How many grades did that have in that school?

I think it was first through fourth and fifth through eighth, but I really don’t remember and it was only that first year and then I went to the Salisbury Central School in Lakeville, the old building, which was the only building there then. They also had in Salisbury the Grove School, the building is no longer there. That was in the empty piece of land across from Salmon Creek Builders. Right across from there is a big empty space and that is where the school was. As a matter of fact, remember in the summer when the man came from way out west and he was digging in the earth for something, some kind of a relic he was looking for, well that’s where he was digging. That was the site of the school house. And my brother went to school there. He started in kindergarten there.

How many were in your family?

An older sister, Helen, and a younger brother, David

And your mother and father were they born here or did they come from somewhere else?

No, my mother was born in the Bronx in New York City and when she was probably 12, because the family was big – there were 12 in her family – and they were poor and there wasn’t very work and less money and she and brother were sent to live with and be raised by a grandmother and someone called Uncle Will in North Egremont, Massachusetts. And another brother, Uncle Artie, was the brother that went with her. He was 10 years younger and another brother, Uncle Bill, spent time there too. Uncle Bill is the only one still living and he lives in New Jersey now. He is in his 80’s, out of all of those 12 children. She went there and was allowed to go to school, continuing her education which would never have happened if she had stayed in the city. She would have had to miss school and go to work. And she graduated from high school in North Egremont and right out of high school became a teacher. And she taught in one-room school houses in Cornwall and in other little towns in the area.

 

So she came to this area because of her teaching?

Well, no, because of poverty and the desire for an education.

That brought her to North Egremont, but specifically, when she came to this particular area it was because of her teaching?

Yes, she was a teacher.

How did she meet your father?

I don’t know. I don’t really remember anybody ever talking about it. Isn’t it awful that we don’t find those things out? But he was a carpenter and he was working in the area, and somewhere they met and I don’t any more than that.

Do you know what brought him to this area?

His family was from Dover Plains. They had a farm and he just came over to this area to seek his trade and they were married in 1925 and they built the house that we now own in Taconic.

Let’s fix the site of that house.

Okay, that is right behind the post office. I keep thinking general store because as a child growing up, that was a much smaller building and was, in fact, a general store and post office and it had a big recreation hall which is where we spent a lot of time when we were dating. It had a great big place with a jukebox where the kids would gather and play pinball machines and dance to the jukebox.

Is that building still there?

No, didn’t that bum, Earl? Didn’t the general store in Taconic burn? Yeah, it burned and then they rebuilt it as the store that it is now. But I don’t really remember when that happened. It was after we were here in Lime Rock.

Is it a store now?

It was a store. They tried to make a go of it, but it didn’t pan out because for years, after we all grew up, and the families that grew up out there moved away, there were a lot of empty houses there and it was a very small community of people for a long time. And especially during the winter months, which I think it still is. Not really frilly populated in the winter. And there wasn’t enough business for a store.

What were your neighbors like, before you went to school? Did you have playmates before you were six, in other words?

I can’t remember very much about that time. I do remember there were children my age and we spent a lot of time playing with each other and my mother didn’t work at that time, so we would be in each other’s homes and yards and we did a lot of little group playing together, probably like they do now. Once my mother started working there was a lot more responsibility at home, so we really didn’t spend a lot of time out.

What year were you born?

1934.

Right in the heart of the depression: but you probably don’t remember much.

No, but I do remember food stamps. As a matter of fact I have some upstairs that I found when I went through Mom’s house and they are still up there. I remember they were for sugar and butter and coffee. I

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remember margarine that you squeezed the yellow bubble and you colored it. I remember having to be careful and we had all these animals and a garden and we would always be sent as far away as Dad could possibly send us when it came time to butcher the animals, because he didn’t want to do it himself and he didn’t want us around so he would have someone come and help him and he’d ship the whole family off across town. But it was because we had to raise our own animals to have food.

When you shifted to the Salisbury Central School, were there school buses to take you there?

Yes, we went on a school bus.

Maybe some of those stamps you were talking came about 1940 or so. Those types of stamps were issued because of the war. (an unidentified woman’s voice inserted this comment)

LJ: Probably. That was the rationing rather than the Depression. This is probably true.

Although there might have been stamps before that too.

But it was as though one thing went right into the other. But, yes, you are right that was because of the war.

Do you recall during the Second World War was there anything in this area?

I remember air raid warnings, you know, the sirens. I remember the dark curtains we had on all of the windows in the house. I remember the day the war was over. All of the children in town raced down the little slope in front of our house, which at that time I thought of as a hill, and went into the chapel which was in the triangle in the center of Taconic and the chapel is there no more, but that chapel was the center of any activities that went on in that town. And we rang the bell, and we rang, and rang, and rang the bell when and older lady across the road from the chapel and was very angry at us for creating such a commotion. We really got carried away, war or no war, we disturbed the peace. But that chapel: 1 remember a lot of stuff that went on in that chapel. There were Christmas pageants, weddings and funerals, and what else? Did you ever go to church in that chapel? It was called the Union Chapel. It wasn’t a specific denomination. I can’t remember the full name, but I do remember ‘Union Chapel.’ All I have left is a picture of it. That and the school house are the buildings I remember and, oh yes, Arnold Whitridge’s swimming pool. He lived down at the end of Taconic on a lovely big estate and he always let the children in the community use his swimming pool. It was probably one of the first ones in the area. And I spent time there too.

So when you were at Salisbury School, you stayed there through the six grade?

Through the eighth. It was the Salisbury Central School, the grammar school, because, of course, the Salisbury School was the private school.

Are the Whitridge’s still there?

He is still living. He is well into his 90’s. 92 or 93,1 believe.

What was school like at Salisbury Central?

I liked it. I liked all but one grade. I did well. I was an average student and I could have done better. I did really well the second, third, fourth and fifth grades and in the sixth grade I didn’t like the teacher and the teacher didn’t like me, and I don’t think I did as badly as the grades I got, but that was a bad year. I remember. And the seventh and eighth grades were good years again. I was in band, I played a clarinet. My brother played the trumpet and we used to participate in the school music programs and we marched

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in the Salisbury Band that is still in existence. It was a lot of fun and I don’t think I could play a clarinet again even if somebody paid me to.

So you enjoyed your growing up?

I know, we had a lot of fun. Taconic was wonderful growing up. Now it is all very restricted. There is no trespassing anywhere in Taconic. There were two places where it was forbidden for us to go but we went anyway. Sage’s Ravine, which is still posted and is over on the Under Mountain Road and it was a lovely place to climb, especially in the summer time in August Dad would not let us go swimming in the lakes in August because that was dog days. The water was warm and the lakes were dirty and he was afraid of polio and we didn’t go swimming. So this was a mountain in the distance and people still hike up the side of the mountain to this beautiful mountain pool and there were falls above and falls below and it was treacherous. I knew when my kids were going there when they were growing up and I would hear the words Sage’s Ravine and I would catch my breath because I would know how dangerous it was to get there then and go across the little gullies that fell many feet deep down into the ground. The other place a tower on the island that now is owned by Camp Isola Bela, the camp for the deaf. That island was forbidden territory, but we would take a boat and go over to the tower and sneak around and see why it was so forbidden. We would hear dogs barking in the distance and we never dared to go past the tower up there. But those were the only two places. You could go across any field and through any yard or any part of the lake and no one ever, ever restricted us from anything. It was just a wonderful place to grow up. We had a lot of fun and we did a lot of mountain climbing and we did a lot of walking. We walked to Sage’s Ravine: we walked to the boat landing over on the last lake, which was O’Hara’s even then. We walked down to Beaver Dam road and fished in the pond which Meryl Streep now owns. You know, the whole town was ours. We tobogganed down the Scoville Hills and go in afterwards to somebody’s house and have hot chocolate and popcorn. I can remember all of those times. And my father and mother took care of the Munson’s mansion, which was the Scoville mansion, and I don’t know who owns it now, but a man by the name of Munson owned it when we were growing up and Dad was the caretaker outside and Mom did caretaking inside and so we all knew that place and I could name every room in that mansion now if they haven’t reconstructed it and we had a lot of fun there.

Let’s go back and pick up something you mentioned earlier. Your maiden name was?

Holmes.

Were both of your parents born in the area of Dover, New York?

Goodness, who knows? They must have been born in that area. I’ll have to look up the certificates. But Mom was born in New York. They were both born in the State of New York.

So you are at least two generations, unless you know more about your family.

Dad’s father was born in Norway and he came over from Norway. His mother was born in the Dover Plains area. My grandmother’s name was Wheeler. And he had two brothers and one sister.

Coming back to the school situation, when you finished Salisbury Central you went on—

Yes, to Housatonic

So that would be about what year?

I graduated from Housatonic in 1952.

This man who is spoken of so highlyDr. Stoddard, was he here then?

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Dr. Stoddard? Oh, yes, he didn’t take any nonsense from anybody. He was tough. But, it was a good school, as schools were then. It has changed a lot. You went into the program, you didn’t have much choice. You were told pretty much what you would take each year. There weren’t the variety of courses there are now, and there were different programs you could follow. There was the classical course which was preparation for college: there was the secretarial course, and a home economic course.

Didn’t they have an agricultural course, too?

Yes, they had an agricultural course. And probably they had the one that mostly boys take – industrial arts. And then there were general studies where you took what you wanted to from different programs, and interestingly then, the valedictorian, who was a very bright girl, and there was no reason why she shouldn’t have been valedictorian, but she graduated in the secretarial program. Which was a much, much less demanding program then those preparing for college. I think they changed the rules soon after that.

Let’s pick Earl up now, and then we will come back to the high school. Were you born in this area?

I was born in Brooklyn.

Oh, you were born in Brooklyn.

We migrated up here. We thought Lime Rock was a place for underprivileged people.

You moved into this area of Lime Rock?

My father did. I was under age so I had to move with him.

How old were you?

Six years old, I think. We moved around the area and ended up in Lime Rock.

What do you remember about the area then? What was it like?

The whole area, Canaan, Lakeville, Salisbury and Lime Rock – What are you looking for??

Was the ore business gone by then?

Oh, sure. I remember we used to use the slag from the ore beds to make boats. And this was a dirt road from Lime Rock to Salisbury.

Let’s fix the year? You said you were about 6 when you came up here. What year was that?

It must have been about 1936.

Oh, again, during the Depression.

He could work for a builder and it was busy up here but there was nothing in New York during the Depression years. He worked for my cousin and then worked for Brothers after that.

What was the mill down here then?

It was there but it was finished. The buildings were there but the flood of 1955 took care of that.

And what about these houses around here?

Factory houses

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At that point were they still factory houses?

No they had been sold. Mrs. Fish was the real estate agent. I think she still is down in Lime Rock. She sold these as residential houses rather than factory houses. And of course now the area is totally residential.

The people who lived in this area and are still here would be like, Marcellos?

Yes, he bought the house which at the time was a factory house and he didn’t work in the factory, but he wanted it because it was reasonable for the working man to afford.

But he and your father’s house would be the only original then. All the rest of us in this area came later.

The Fitches came when our children were little.

Did you go to school here?

I went to the school house in Lime Rock. I think there were six grades and after that we went to the Lakeville School. I think it was pretty close to the end of the Lime Rock School.

How many rooms were in that school building?

There were only two rooms.

Was there any evidence of the ore business at mill you say was still there?

The ore business was up here. They used to make train wheels.

So they were not related? I really don’t know. I think Barnum was the guy who had the ore business, but that was before my time.

Lime Rock was the hub at that time?

Laura: Lime Rock was reputed to be the hub of the town of Salisbury at one time. There was the theater and a lot of other things here. In fact, you have to talk with Hezzy Goodwin. Hezzy Goodwin will tell you everything you ever want to know about Lime Rock. He knows it all. He’s been here forever.

THERE IS A WHOLE SECTION HERE THAT ISN’T CLEAR BECAUSE SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE TALKING AT THE SAME TIME – A COUPLE OF NAMES ARE MENTIONED WHICH I DON’T RECOGNIZE – BUT YOU MIGHT (#15Oish ON THE TAPE COUNTER).

So, Earl, after you finished that school you went on the Housatonic?

No, I went to Lakeville.

What was in Lakeville?

The grammar school

When you say Lakeville you mean Salisbury Central? Yes, to the lower building, the upper building wasn’t there. We went there sixth through the eighth grades and then we went to the high school.

And how did you enjoy the high school?

I wasn’t much of a student. I was a wall flower. Apparently I had other interests.

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Where did you get all of the skills you have now? Was the school helpful in developing those skills or did you pick them up elsewhere?

They taught me to read and write okay.

I was thinking of manual skills. Your ability with cars, you know, and …Laura: I think you are born with those.

When did you develop your interest in cars?

I guess around eighth grade.

Was that because you had a car?

We had a Model T, just out of necessity. And we had to keep it on the road.

It’s interesting that you had a Model T. In the 1930’s the Model A (talk over!!)

Back in my era World War II was going on, I was in 6th or 7th grade and the cars ?

In order to get something you had to ? In fact, I had a 1921 Dodge.

When you say you had it, you mean you personally? It wasn’t the family car?

Oh, no, no. I (talk over)

So at what age did you start driving?

Did you need a license to drive at that time?

Oh, sure, if you were on the road.

So, what kind of studies were you involved in at the high school?

I took the college course. I think that was when I was in my junior year.

You joined the army?

No, the Air Force

Laura: He ran away from home. His mother didn’t know where he was for six months.

How long did you serve?

I had one full year and then in the reserves for 10 years after.

Laura: You were just a kid then.

Yeah, I was nineteen.

Laura: You can’t have been 19 if you left in your junior year. You must have been 18 at the minimum age.

World War II was over by that time.

Laura: Just before the Korean War, because he was notified that he had to serve in the Korean War and he had to await the second notice to find out where he was to report and it never came or something like that. That was after I met him. He was 19 then.

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Did you meet at Housatonic?

Laura: No, we met at the Chanel in Taconic. But years and years before apparently we had gone to Sunday school together at the Methodist Church in Lakeville, but we never knew it.

J

What was the Chanel?

Laura: The Channel is a body of water at the end of Taconic where I grew up, a little channel of water that finished the lake. You know, it was the tail end where the water was taken from to take care of the power, I guess, for the Scoville Mansion way back in the days when they needed power generated by water. And it is still there. There is a rock formation that we used to dive off from. It was supposedly a bottomless body of water, but I’m sure it had a bottom. But that is where we did most of our swimming in the summer. It was very close to our house and it was a neat place for kids to play Tarzan from a rope out over the water and drop down.

What did you do for recreation when you were growing up, Earl? What kind of things were you involved in?

Well, I remember at Halloween we would push over the outhouse. We had to amuse ourselves and I guess that is why I tinkered with cars. It was something I could do myself and maybe hitchhike to the movies in Lakeville.

Oh, they had a theater in Lakeville?

And a trip to Goshen was a monumental business at the time. We would usually go on Sundays. Man,that was way out. I wasn’t involved in sports very much. I did play basketball once in a while when I was in grammar school.

All during this period you were living in this area here? Or in your dad’s house. How did you get so popular, everybody knows you? If we ask where someone lives, they say it’s across from Earl’s house or down the street from Earl’s.

A lot of talk over’ – cannot transcribe.

Laura: It’s just because he has been here so long.

What has been your work, Earl? What kind of work have you done?

I worked on a farm. We had to work every summer and I mowed lawns before that when I was about 10 years old. I did a whole bunch of lawns back then. It was a big business then.

Laura: and that was when they were hand mowers.

How did you get into the rug business?

I used to hang out at Scranton’s garage down on Route 7 and someone from the rug shop came in and said they were looking for extra help.

So you worked at Scranton’s Garage?

I never actually worked there. I would just hang out and work on my cars there. They had all the tools there and I used to give them a hand now and then, pump gas for them and things like that.

Laura: he was a good friend, Wayne Scranton. He was a special person.

And then you met and married. What year? Laura: We got married in 1953.

Laura: We got married in 1953.

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Did you build this house right away?

Laura: We built this right away. We lived with his parents for 3 months, and moved into this house on Friday, December 13, 1953. Earl: and we’ve been lucky ever since.

How much involvement did you have with the community, on the level of let’s say town hall meetings and things like that?

Laura: After we were married do you mean?

Yes.

Laura: Very little. We went to a few meetings. What I was involved in when the children got to the age was the Salisbury Congregational Church and Sunday school, and then when they got into school, PT A, Cub Scouts, Brownies, Girl Scouts. All of those things, the kids and I were involved in, but I was home, I wasn’t working and Earl was working two jobs. So there wasn’t much time for participation in meetings in the local government things, because he knew if he didn’t take on extra work and do extra, the children wouldn’t have had anything.

The other woman: it’s interesting that you say, “I wasn’t working, I was home.” Laura: I know, I know and I was working at home. And I don’t remember those years. I remember doing things, but I don’t remember how I ever did all of them now. Because there were three little kids two years apart and there was no automatic washing machines. I did have a car when they were little: I think we finally managed to get a second car. But I was really busy but I don’t remember how I ever managed to do it. And I see families in the supermarket now with 2 or 3 little children and I wonder how did I ever cope with all that? But you do.

You both grew up in this area and you stayed in this area and yet here are Robbie and Lisa who have left the area. Do you wonder why?

Earl: What’s here for them? This is a retirement community, let’s face it.

So we come to the question then of how is the community different now then it was when you were growing up? What are some of the differences?

Earl: It’s getting worse. There are more restrictions. Laura: Much more restrictive. Earl: Just catering to the retired, talk over

Laura: But we are in a whole different place then we were in the years when the children were growing up. There are families now, lots of families now with children growing up that are experiencing a lot of good things like the Mothers Club that they never had when we were younger and they have a lot more elaborate recreation programs now then there was. There was a recreation program but it was harder for us to take part in it because of where we lived. I imagine that the families growing up and using the recreation program and using the schools, are not feeling very much different about things then we felt when our family was growing. It was a wonderful place for children to grow up. The kids talk about it now, they talk about the Lake and they talk about the things that they had. I’m sure that the families that are growing up now are feeling what we felt. The population has grown: much of the population that has grown can have second homes. They don’t live here year around. And the picture is changing economically because of these people who can afford to live here as a second home. That is also making it necessary for a lot of young people who live here to go someplace else where they might be able to live more economically. There isn’t housing, there aren’t jobs unless you become a professional person and you come back and take on a role as a teacher, a lawyer or a doctor or nurse. Or if you are industrious and you start up your own business like Eric has done with his lawns and his own equipment

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and as Earl did. There is a lot of need for the laborer. We need the people to take care of these people who come here and have found it to be such a beautiful place to live. And it is.

Is there less industry now then there was when you were growing up?

Laura: There was never much industry, was there? Earl: ??????? Laura: There was a lot of farming, but there wasn’t industry. Earl: There used to be a factory in Salisbury, up on the hill there.

Which factory was that?

Earl: Salisbury Artisans. Laura: Oh, they are still there. Do they do things? Do they …talk over . Laura: There was a 50 & 100 store, an A&P in Lakeville and over the years there was a record store and a stationery-type store. Earl: Lakeville has gotten smaller and Salisbury has grown. Laura: People would have jobs waiting on tables in restaurants, which they do now. I did babysitting, which is the only thing I ever did to make money was to babysit. I don’t know what else young people did to make money.

How do you account for this when there has not been much change in industry? How do you account for Robbie and Lisa leaving and they were not the only ones: there were others, who have left this area.

Laura: There are young people who have stayed. Perhaps the Bobby’s and Lisa’s are the exception. I don’t know how many young people have really left the town to seek their fortunes elsewhere. And I know that Lisa left because she went off to college and she just never returned to this area. I think Bobby left for other reasons and once he did get away, he realized that he liked it. Perhaps the majority of kids who go away to college do return to the area. I don’t know. They can’t all stay here, because they just aren’t here. There isn’t a place for them all. talk over

We talked about what there was in Lakeville and Salisbury, now what about Lime Rock? Wasn’t there a general store and a post office? That also went.

The other woman: A decline in population, I guess.

One of the things I was interested in that I heard about is that there have been a lot of artists living in this area at one time, in Lime Rock? Was that in the 1920’s?

Earl: an artist and Diorama and things like that. Laura: Shaw, our neighbor…. unclear Other woman: can’t understand her. Laura: That’s the railroad station. Other woman: I was told at one time that Lakeville had a thriving recreation area and families would come up for the summer and husbands would come to visit on weekends and that was the station that they came to. The whole area went through different stages, you know, and now it’s not quite like that. People come up weekends… Laura: they just drive up. Or they take the train to Dover. Other woman: When we were at the town hall the night they were talking about renovating the town hall, there was this young woman who stood up and answered to somebody who said this is a geriatric community and she said ‘no, that’s not true anymore.” She indicated that people were coming up here to live and they were raising young children now. Laura: Well, there is a community … END OF TAPE.

BEGINNING OF TAPE -39B – IS SO FAINT THAT I HAVE DIFFICULTY HEARING IT. AT

I START AGAIN AT “887” ON THE COUNTER:

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/A lot of talk over.

has become substantially or certainly more than it was a retirement community?

Laura: In the sense that … you get the feeling that it is, but is it maybe just because the whole population has grown. If you took a headcount of 30 years ago when we were growing up and when the children were going to school and there wasn’t a Noble Horizon then, this is true. I don’t know when that began but that was here then. But we had a lot of old neighbors in Taconic and we had a lot of old neighbors here and there were old people in all of the communities around and I suspect that it is just that the whole population has grown, the elderly and the young, and I wonder if really the census was taken if percentage-wise it wouldn’t be just talk over. I’m just not sure, I think we do have a much bigger population then we had 30 years ago. And I think that’s ….fadeswe had very wealthy people when we were in Taconic. The Scovillesfadesthe Scoville Family and the Chapin Family because before that area was named Taconic it was called Chapinville because the majority landowner at that time was a family named Chapin. And then Munson came in and Munson was wealthy and ??family in Salisbury talk over there has always been wealth

here and now the wealth is coming from the city.

How much bad feeling has there been in terms of people coming here from the city in relation to the population here?

I don’t know. You hear things. You know there was discussion going on about Shagroy and the problems that people have there. But I don’t know that is exactly the problem. Most of the people that are here that were here 30, 35 or 40 years ago are the people that serve the people and become the trade people. So it’s more work and more income for the people that work here and I don’t think there is all that much – I really don’t see it. I think one of the biggest problems is perhaps the growing population at the lake in the summer and

some people have become quite possessive about the lake and they think that may but, that is silly. talk over.

Not sure this section is important. (933 on the counter) I wonder if the original tape is clearer?

Laura: When our children were little I used to go to the lake every single day. There was a whole group of little families and Mom would take the children, pack up the car and spend the day. We did that from the time they were two or three until they got. So were those families then, there just weren’t as many, talk over

Laura: I never spent any time at Lakeville Lake growing up. I grew up on Twin Lakes. We swam there and boated there and we skated there, unclear….at 955 on counter

Bits and pieces: ‘as residents of Lime Rock you could go to Lakeville Lake for 5 cents. The place was leased by Dave Timons.(Ed.)

Laura: and when she (?) bought it she gave it to the town — and it was to be used by the town, meaning all six boroughs of the town for no charge. No charge for parking, no charge swimming, etc. But somewhere along the line that had to change because it had

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What year was this?

Maybe 1952 every year it got better. I remember in the beginning it was nice

 

Laura: A lot of the people I went to school withI shouldn’t say a lota number of them are still in town. Unclear#990 on counter. There are 8 or 10 I can think of who graduated in my class and still live in town.

What are some of the other differences, if any, that has happened here?

There was no zoning until years after we built our house. How long has zoning been in? Regulations came in. Zoning came in for a good reason and all the others are by State mandate. aren’t they? I would imagine that all the other regulations are just something

We just built our house and nobody told us we could or could not

do anything. We had the 1955 flood which changed the picture in Lime Rock.

How did it change things?

The bridge down here was built after the bridge was wiped out and the water table dropped and you know things were affected-talk over – unclear. The fill from the river bottom was dumped in the fields. They wanted to get rid of it, but they had to dig it out.

unclear. talk over, something about

digging out mud talk over.

What was the population by nationality in Lime Rock at that time?

Earl: Gee, I don’t know. Laura: I think mixed. Italians, unclear. I think there was as there is now. unclear something about potato fields.

What about the race track, when did that come?

Laura: In the late 1950s.

Was there a vote before they opened?

Laura: I don’t think so. It was just land that was sold and they just did it. And at the time when it was in its early years, they raced on Sunday morning when they were having church services across the street, and they did anything they wanted. And then finally there was enough of an uproar from the communitytalk over. But it took the church to stop the Sunday racing. . There weren’t as many races, not as much activity as there is now. But they talk over.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that we haven’t asked you about?

Laura: I can’t think of anything specifically and you, Earl? response unclear – talk over.

END OF TAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1#078 ON COUNTER.

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