Photographing the Past
by Dave Hanes
Pictoral memories of the homes and farms of pioneer era in the Bancroft vicinity. In Dave's own words: "The homes, the farms, they stand, they crumble, and implements turn to rust." Captivated by the story behind the remaining artifacts, Dave Hanes takes us on a pictorial tour of the Hastings Road and area in the vicinity of Bancroft, Ontario.
Long ago immigrants came to this country from the British Isles and Europe to find a new better life in an unknown land. Parts of Lower and Upper Canada were surveyed into counties and townships. The best lands were distributed to Officers of the British Army and Royal Navy for their service to Great Britain. Most of the best lots lay along the mighty St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario and contained 100 acres, more or less.
Colonization roads were surveyed and roads hacked out of the thick forests and swamps. One such road was the Hastings Road, a meandering rutted swamp and rock-covered terrain. Very few sections of this road were deemed straight, as it was skirting deep swamps, lakes and impassible rocky hills. Along this road lots of 100 acres were surveyed east and west of the Hastings Road. Terms for settlement were quite rigid.
Few pioneers met their obligation due to poor soil, rocky fields and massive sections of swamp. Besides the land they faced unimaginable obstacles such as hordes of mosquitoes, black flies and harsh winters, something unknown to them in their homeland. In the vicinity of Bancroft, some decent farmland was found, some to this day is still farmed with success. These better lots flourished, producing crops and livelihoods for the pioneer willing to endure the hardships of a new land. More successful land in this region was in the townships of Faraday, Mayo, Dungannon, Carlow and Monteagle up to the small village of Maynooth.
In my book, 
Iron Mining at Bessemer, many photos appear of the farms and log homes in their prime. In the 1970s, I had the pleasure of running a series of old farms, homes and implements in the Bancroft Times for some 38 weeks, called Photographing The Past. It was well received and enjoyed by many readers. At that time most of the buildings had fallen into disrepair and decay had set in. Farm implements, mostly horse drawn were left abandoned in fields and now lie amongst tall weeds and grass.
Reproduced here in book form, in colour on fine gloss paper, this book is a simple treasure.
Go here for a list of the photographs included
ISBN: 9781894747400 | WMPub#1062 | 8" x 8"
108 pages, colour on gloss paper trade paperback | $24.95
Table of Contents
3 Foreword
5 Where Does This Old Road Go To
6 Spread Across The Rolling Hills
7 The Old Bancroft Train Station
8 Old Log Homestead on the Musclow Greenview Road
9 Once A Sturdy Log Barn
10 Wagons, Buggys And Wheels, Essentials Of Pioneer Life
11 Haunted House Way Up On The Hill, Steenburg Lake Road
12 With The Passing Of Time
13 Narrow And Wide Boards & Cedar Shingles
14 Neat Log Barn And Cedar Shingled Roof
15 Setting Sun On Snow Covered Rail Fence
16 The Old Homestead Nestled In A Low Valley Gaebel Road
18 Log Homestead, Old Snow Road, Fall and Winter.
19 Bridges
21 Surviving The Unforgiving Wilderness
22 Tiny Cabin In The Forest
23 Overlooking Papineau River New Carlow
24 The Old Farm Implements
25 Old Farm Implements
26 Beauty in this winter scene
27 Barns, Big And Small, A Neccessity On All Farms, Then And Now
28 More Old Barns
29 A Picture To Frame
30 Roughly Built Stable In An Overgrown Field
31 The Serenity And Pureness Of Mother Nature
32 Outbuildings
32 Old Armstrong Farm
32 New Carlow
33 Beneath the high hill, under new-fallen snow
34 The Stone Sentinel
35 Standing Silent In Pure White Snow
36 Once a thriving farm, nature closes in
36 Colonization Road to the northern part of Hastings County
37 Small Log Barn Armstrong Place New Carlow
38 For Lack Of A Window, Some Boards Were Used
39 Pastel shades on a dreary fall day
40 Diamond set in narrow boards
41 View fro inside on an early morning sunrise
42 The many uses of the native trees
43 Log barns and out buildings Fraser Lake
44 The hidden sanctuary in the forest
44 If you were lost...
45 Mother Nature versus Father Time
46 A Scene Worth Photographing A Thousand Times Over
47 Large Family Home, Sitting Empty, All Alone.
48 Just A Simple Large Home.
49 Picturesque Home In A World Of Silence
50 Every Angle Gives A Different Photo
51 An Abstract View Of The Old Rutledge Farm, Musclow Greenview Road
52 Empty Home In Snow So Deep
53 Where Have All The Children Gone?
54 Perched Atop A Grassy Knoll
55 The Stone Root Cellar
55 Cut Field Stone And Limestone Used
55 For The Sturdy Walls Of This Storeroom
56 Alone They Sit On A Snowy Knoll& Abandoned
56 But Now Preserved In A Timeless Image
57 Like A Fly In A Spiders Web, The Cabin Is Engulfed
58 A Tree In The Living Room
59 Just Roofs---no Walls
60 The Trees Are Keeping It From Crumbling To The Ground
61 Boards And Sticks Upon A Knoll
62 Simple Door Frame Set In Simple Round Logs
62 One Still Stands While Two Have Outlived Their Purpose
63 Decaying Buildings, Dying And Neglected Apple Trees
64 The Countryside Once Full Of These,
64 The Sad Demise Of Ancient Trees
65 The Good Old Fashioned Farm Auction Sale
65 Going Once!...Going Twice!....Sold!!!!
66 From School Bells And Church Bells To Beds And Bedding, Everything You Could Possibly Hope To Find Is Hiding Somewhere At The Old Farm Auction
67 The Old Root Cellar& A Must On The Early Farm And Homestead
68 The Old Root Cellar At Bessemer
69 Old Barn L'amable
70 The Democrat Buggy - For The Aristocrat
71 Sometimes Simple Things Work The Best
73 Slowly But Surely It Fell To The Ravages Of Time And The ElementsHighway 500 East
74 Decay And Death In A Wintery Wonderland
75 Pictures Worthy Of A Place On The Wall
76 Let Your Mind Wander Back In Time To When These Buildings Were Full Of Life
77 The Sun Sinks Low In The Western Sky Long Fingers Cast Shadows On The Cold White Snow
78 Like A Giant Tombstone The Tall Pine Stands,
78 Over The Few Remaining Logs
79 Winter Beauty
79 Glory Of Fall
80 Old Barn... Outbuildings And Implements... Left To The Ravages Of Time
81 Neat Cluster Of Old Farm Buildings
82 Storm Clouds Passing On A Cold Winter Afternoon
83 Sun Shines Brightly On Pure White Snow
83 Animal Tracks And Trails Lead Up The Hill To A Tiny Fallen Down Cabin Of A Few Old Boards
84 Just A Smple Log Stable, New Hermon
85 Small Sawmill Horse and master still work as a team
86 Twelve Ton Limit
87 The Gate Is Open But No One Enters
88 Sad Demise For A Once Proud Barn
89 The Door Is Open But No One Cares
90 Nestled In A Small Clearing
91 A Calamity Of Fences
92 In The Early Days Of Settlement, Along The Colonization Roads, Even A Simple Single Furrow, Plow Such As This Was A Luxury.
94 The Old Wooden Handled Narrow Tyned Plough Left At The Edge Of The Bush
95 Left In A Heap A Jumble Of Old Single Furrow Ploughs
96 The Work Horse
97 Built For Very Heavy Work In Tough Soil Conditions
98 The Steel Dinosaurv
99 Old Steel Wheeled Wagon Hay Rake And Single Furrow Plow
100 To Make The Soil Ready For Seeding
101 The Old Style Corn Planter
102 Mechanical Marvel
103 Different Machine, Different Local, Similar But Some Minor Changes
104 The Mower
105 The Old Steel Wheel
106 One Of My Favourite Photos
107 The Weather Vane, Once Commonplace On Barns And Homes, Now Seldom Seen
108 A Final Note