Let's take a little side trip to my town. Kelsey is North of Placerville on Highway 193 on the Georgetown Divide. Kelsey lays claim to about 200 inhabitants. We no longer have a post office, Placerville delivers our mail. We have no gas station, motel, bar, pizza parlor, or store. But we once did. We still have a few of the old buildings hanging, or leaning, around. We have some nice old homes, a cute little church, a lovely old two room schoolhouse, a lot of old mines, and a cemetery.
A couple of weeks ago a seller I met on ebay sent me an email to tell me about a real photo post card with a vintage photo of an old store in Kelsey. I was excited to see this image, since the building still exists. I bid on it and won it. So I thought I would share it with you and show you what it looks like today. In the middle of this photo you can see a tall slim gent checking out the photographer, probably wondering why he is interested in this little berg out in the middle of nowhere.
The little street this old place is on juts off of the highway to the west just past where Marshall's blacksmith shop once stood and comes back to it just before the church. I rarely go down this street, but did so after I bought the postcard to take these photos. The store is wedged between two houses that you can't see, because on the left a hedge hides the home and on the right a fence and some garages are close to the road and block the view beyond. As you can tell, the store appears to be used for storage.
Here you can see how the shingles on the roof are giving way. I once peeked inside and the light streams down through the many holes. The entire place looks like a good windstorm (which are not uncommon here) could just blow it away. Pieces will probably end up in the cemetery on the hill behind.
A couple of years ago, the owner of this old place had a garage sale outside under the front porch. There were old bottles, turning from the sun, various pieces of old china, rusty ancient tools, etc. I bought a few of the old bottles and spent a couple of bucks. The sale went on for two weekends, and I went back a couple of times, more to see and enjoy the old building than to buy anything.
That's it for today's visit to Kelsey. I plan to show you a little more of our town and its history at a later date.
The little street this old place is on juts off of the highway to the west just past where Marshall's blacksmith shop once stood and comes back to it just before the church. I rarely go down this street, but did so after I bought the postcard to take these photos. The store is wedged between two houses that you can't see, because on the left a hedge hides the home and on the right a fence and some garages are close to the road and block the view beyond. As you can tell, the store appears to be used for storage. 
Here you can see how the shingles on the roof are giving way. I once peeked inside and the light streams down through the many holes. The entire place looks like a good windstorm (which are not uncommon here) could just blow it away. Pieces will probably end up in the cemetery on the hill behind.
A couple of years ago, the owner of this old place had a garage sale outside under the front porch. There were old bottles, turning from the sun, various pieces of old china, rusty ancient tools, etc. I bought a few of the old bottles and spent a couple of bucks. The sale went on for two weekends, and I went back a couple of times, more to see and enjoy the old building than to buy anything.
That's it for today's visit to Kelsey. I plan to show you a little more of our town and its history at a later date.
Beautiful post. I love the before and after.I wonder why the trees are gone? It's too bad the building won't be around long.
ReplyDeletelots of old small bldgs here are going the same way. i remember them from when as a young girl would come up north once a month to visit grandparents. as always, tina, great post.
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