Hey everybody, normally at lunch I go to a area near where I work too watch trains. I am going to dedicate most of the time and space on this blog for the pictures I take with my Black Berry Bold.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Hmmmmmm
This is at Denton Farm Park in Denton NC I have no idea what it is. Anybody know?
Hey Mr. Railwatcher - the Denton FarmPark is just outside of the small community of Denton, North Carolina. That's 20 minutes south of Asheboro - near the geographic center of the state.
The FarmPark is a privately-owned facility that hosts 4 public events a year - Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival on Mother's Day weekend, Southeast Old Threshers' Reunion over the week of July 4, the FarmPark Bluegrass Festival in September and Horse and Mule Days in late October. All of the event focus upon our cultural heritage in this part of the country. That includes farming, arts and craft and bluegrass music.
The structure you're showing is a favorite story of mine. It is the cotton compress that originally was located on North Brevard Street in downtown Charlotte - long before trucking and banking industries moved there. The cotton compress was located beside the railroad track. Farmers would haul their bales from the farm to the compress. Air was squeezed out of them reducing their size. They were stored in a mile-long warehouse and shipped to the Northeast via train. Compressing the bales allowed more of them to be shipped at one time.
It's a beautiful structure and has been restored. When it was located in Charlotte, the steam unit that powered it was extremely large. At the FarmPark, it works much more slowly - but still demonstrates how it once worked in Charlotte.
And by the way --- historians record that it was this piece of equipment that originally put Charlotte on the map. Farmers within a hundred mile radius brought their cotton to the compress.
1 comment:
Hey Mr. Railwatcher - the Denton FarmPark is just outside of the small community of Denton, North Carolina. That's 20 minutes south of Asheboro - near the geographic center of the state.
The FarmPark is a privately-owned facility that hosts 4 public events a year - Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival on Mother's Day weekend, Southeast Old Threshers' Reunion over the week of July 4, the FarmPark Bluegrass Festival in September and Horse and Mule Days in late October. All of the event focus upon our cultural heritage in this part of the country. That includes farming, arts and craft and bluegrass music.
The structure you're showing is a favorite story of mine. It is the cotton compress that originally was located on North Brevard Street in downtown Charlotte - long before trucking and banking industries moved there. The cotton compress was located beside the railroad track. Farmers would haul their bales from the farm to the compress. Air was squeezed out of them reducing their size. They were stored in a mile-long warehouse and shipped to the Northeast via train. Compressing the bales allowed more of them to be shipped at one time.
It's a beautiful structure and has been restored. When it was located in Charlotte, the steam unit that powered it was extremely large. At the FarmPark, it works much more slowly - but still demonstrates how it once worked in Charlotte.
And by the way --- historians record that it was this piece of equipment that originally put Charlotte on the map. Farmers within a hundred mile radius brought their cotton to the compress.
So - now you know the rest of the story.
Post a Comment