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1971 Go to Movies, support Local Ball Teams Have a GREAT Time! Map of Area Water was pum TiS pra facto! a windmill down atthe bay, through almost a mile of pipeline, to fill acistern at the cheese factory. Remnants of the oid pipeline can still be found on both sides of the road today. Art Johnson, who isthe son of one ofthe cheese makers, can remember as a boy, playing at the McLaughlin site, where the foundations and an oid boiler still iay. Huge chunks of ice would be taken from the bay in the spring to be stored in the icehouse, the building and oetween the layers of ice being insulated with hay or sawdust, to keep the ice all summer. Farmers would use it to cool the milk overnight. Many farmers would not send their milk on Sundays for religious reasons. Insome Hygiva PT od To cases wnere there wasn't an icehouse, the milk would be cooled in the well overnight. The milkstand and icehouse are still standing at the side ofthe road on the old Whattam far [= RE The Carmen Church sat idle from the time it closed its doors in 1926, until it was eventually torn down in 1841. The original stone from the church, carved with "Carmen M.E. Church" was salvaged, years later, and at the urging of Wrex Hicks, was restored and incorporated into a cairn and placed at the old site of the church, at the crossroads of Whattams Rd. and Middle Rd. The fate of Babvion Scheel soon fell inte its company. In 1838 it was close lin ompany. 838 itv ose and the three remaining students were sent up the road to attend Roses School. The last teacher at Babylon Schoolwas Lila Caughey. The schoolhouse remained on site for many years where some can remember going to vote in public elections, But, it was eventually moved to a Cherry Valley farm where it still stands today. After World War II, about 1850, the Air Force set about clearing a tract of land lakeside in Babylon, Some remember thousands of gallons of oil being poured on Se ok x \ SSNS inhabited, but all of t 5 ¢ g literally went up in smoke. Among them was the old Genier homestead, which is remembered fondly and is felt should have been preserved as a heritage home, It was intended that rockets would be sent up at this site, and it seems that a few were, but the site wasn't used to any great extent before the Air Force pulled out. One cannot help but get a little wistful while listenin to the stories of the few remaining people who are part of the generation who can remember Babylon. They talk about Sunday School atthe Carmen Church, about the three curicus old Buttonwood treas { only two out the th s old Bu od trees {only tw are left, and they don't iook well) on Roses Lane, about stooking, and hitching a ride on the milk wagon. They remember going to school in the winter on foot. The Hicke family had an unusual dog cart they tock turns using, and the dog would wait patiently outside the school until end of day. Some remember the Whattams' had a pony, and someone else even rode a bull! They remem- ber a father would which up a sleigh when there was a winter storm and stop along the way to pick everyone up. These sound like days well worth remembering. A good name for Middle Rd. is Babylon Road. Roses Lane seems to be considered a continuation ofthe Middle Rd. by some geographic mystery, but if it weren't, could it not be the Road to Babylon. What about Buttonwood Lane, after those poor old trees which will soon be gone and forgotten? Hopefully, with everyone thinking about the past, a name which evokes memories as fond as those recalled by "Roses Lane," wiil be found. And let us not forget that a "911" access code is a worthy cause for all this fuss. Diane Platt