So last week I was up in Russellville to find Hayslope’s septic tank. Need to know where it is so we don’t do something like pour a concrete slab on top of it.
Found it. As you may or may not know, there’s a lot of really big rocks there, especially in the back of the house, and naturally one of those really big rocks was mistaken for the hidden septic tank at first, but that was the only errant dig. The tank was further away from the house than I expected, which is great, slightly off to the side and not directly behind it too.
Big surprise: It’s a homemade concrete tank that has now been in the ground for, oh, about 85 years, still doing its job. The lid had no access hatch, and the septic guys said they could try to put one in, but they’d likely just crush it. Their recommendation was to let it be unless and until it starts backing up, then replace it.
The other surprise was just how rich and dark the dirt was. There was no sign of clay for a good two feet, which I guess is what happens when a piece of earth sits there for a really long time without being overused. Smelled really nice too, you know, like rich, dark dirt.
I’ll Fly Away, Oh Lord, I’ll Fly Away
I took a drone up with me, intending to map the property and create a 3D model of it, which I did. You didn’t think it would be that simple, though, did you? Of course not! I did two flights – the first a close up of the immediate area around the house. No problems there, although I should have extended it just a little further to the back, so I guess I’ll do that one again.
The other … the entire 28 acres. This one I set to fly a little higher so as not to run into trees around the woods at the back of the property, which are on a hill. And that worked like a charm. No crashing. I knew ahead of time this would take two batteries, and it was time for the drone to fly back to me so I could swap them out.
Except that’s not what happened. The drone dropped its connection with the controller and took off north, in the opposite direction from where I was. We’ll not talk about what I said and did for the next little while, but the little monster was half way to Grainger County by the time I (somehow) convinced it to turn around.
The relief when the numbers telling me how far away the thing was started dropping … and it came back, I swapped out the battery, and finished the flight. Don’t think my heart slowed down for a couple more hours though.
Happy Trails to You
And we’re moving ahead on getting placed on the Civil War Trails, too. That’s a multi-state network of sites related to the war with brochures for all the states so you can follow the trails through each state and then some specific topics like “Lee’s Retreat,” “Road to Freedom,” and “Gettysburg.”
At each site, there’s a sign with details about that specific spot, so I’m working on the text for our sign now. I think I show’d y’all a preliminary text a few months ago, and I’ll let you see what I end up with too. I’m taking a close look at the text on the signs at the Longstreet Museum and Bethesda Cemetery so what we say can be part of the story of our whole area.
It’s also gonna bring one of the first obvious signs of work at the house, because CWT requires a small, safe parking area for visitors. I already know where it’s going, so just searching out the folks to create it right now.
And also
I wandered around the yard a bit, spotting the fish pond that Chris Hurley dug out a few years back. It uses some of the giant rocks and will be very nice to get working again. Near where the septic tank was, I found an unusual outline of … something. No idea what. A flower bed, perhaps? And beneath a tangle of brush, the remnants of a brick wall that could be what once was a grill. At least that, I’m sure, came from the 30s. It’s sure gonna be interesting to clear out the brush around the edges and find out what’s under there.
And then there’s that rock with the lines on it. Maybe it was used as a hard surface for some axe work?
The next trip up will be in about a month, I suspect. I’ll be marking the parking area at that point and trying to find a storage unit somewhere … but they all seem full.
What are your ideas for the use of Hayslope?
Thanks for asking! I have tons of ideas, starting with I want to live there – I’ve wanted to live there since I was very young, so that’s definitely a part of it.
I have friends who are very keen on redeveloping the orchard – especially if we find there are some heirloom trees growing back there. We can bring them back, and even sell saplings once we get them established. We’re also planning on gardening herbs and vegetables – and again, heirloom varieties would be best – using techniques from all three of Hayslope’s time periods: the Colonial, the Civil War, and the late 19th Century when it was a resort. From there, we also hope to do open hearth cooking demonstrations in that big fireplace on the south side.
I think those type things will take place on special occasions, when we open the house for visitors. It’s not gonna be a museum – the Longstreet Museum is that already. But we can have special events, tied to holidays or other days and give tours at those times as well as have special programs. Cooking, growing vegetables, canning – in fact, another idea we’ve tossed around, especially if we’re able to get the orchard going again, is having things like Hayslope Apple Butter – I have learned that there were Hayslope branded canned vegetables sold back in the day, canned by the canning plants in Russellville!
And chickens! The Rogans had chickens and sold their eggs back in the day – Hugh Rogan, in fact, occasionally wrote for The Industrious Hen, which was a poultry industry magazine that was published for a while. We’ll bring back the white Wyandottes!
Of course, with the renovation and preservation work, we’ll be applying to be on the National Register of Historic Places. And as I said in this post, we’re going on the Civil War Trails. I’ve just finished the application and sign text and sent that in, so that’s coming soon, probably – likely in March.
It also strikes me that although there were no Revolutionary War battles in our area, there were a lot of Revolutionary War soldiers living around us – almost all of them Overmountain men. And we have a strong connection to the story of the State of Franklin too, so I’ll be looking for ways to tie into that part of our history too.
So also, however we can connect and help with other historical groups in our area – the museum, Bethesda Cemetery, Bent Creek, etc. And, I’m open to any and all suggestions and ideas from other people.