Souvenirs of Yesteryear: Plasterville
A little hamlet aptly named for one of its main products, Plasterville is nestled in the southeastern quadrant of the Town of North Norwich. In fact, it is so well nestled that it is had to see. Today the name is used to designate the area around the intersection of Whaupaunaucau Road and County Road 32 (alias East River Road). Its most prominent landmark is the ever expanding BOCES complex. However, Plasterville once sprawled all the way west to State Route 12.
The heart of modern day Plasterville hosts a splendid diversity of scruffy bushes and struggling trees. It could legitimately qualify as boondocks, except for the audible traffic noises from the nearby roads.
I try to imagine what it was like when 200 people lived here. At least, that is what Roy Gallinger claims in his 1970 book, “Smoke Rings Over The Valley”, pages 24-26. He should know because I understand that he lived here on Whaupaunaucau Road. His information seems to have been lifted from an anonymous article in the Syracuse Herald-American (1950 January 8 Sunday page 30). Gallinger once wrote for that newspaper, so I suspect he wrote this article. He says there were 20 houses. That would translate to 10 occupants per house, seems somewhat crowded. However, I heard the place was occupied by a lot of wood shacks, and we still have hovels throughout our country where multiple residents cram together and share beds, for example, tenements and college dormitories.
The best, and most reliable, account of Plasterville is by Mildred E. Hazard in the 1999 sesquicentennial book, “Next Stop Galena ...”, pages 57-59. She provides a vivid description of the hamlet. Mildred was not around in the early 1800s when Plasterville was being developed, so she depended on what the contemporary residents wrote. Unfortunately, they did not do much writing.
The heart of Plasterville was its mills: plaster, saw, and grist. Apparently, they were originally powered by the Chenango River and then when the Chenango Canal went through, by a feeder channel to the canal. The mills were upstream of Lock 92, which was also here. The original mill was built by Jarvis Pike soon after he returned from the War of 1812. The canal did not become operational until 1837, so the mills were here first, but the canal drove an expansion of the hamlet.
The 1855 map shows the plaster mill located east of the canal and west of the river. A road once connected Route 12 and Road 32. The mill was on the south side of the road. Three bridges crossed the canal, the river, and the feeder. When the two parallel railroads were built by 1875, another bridge spanned them both. Remnants of the bridges are still there. Examination of satellite images from Google Earth revealed nothing more than we found on the ground.
In the photo is chemist John Carhart pointing to what might have been the apparent site of the old plaster mill. Our interest in Plasterville is plaster. We were trying, with scant evidence, to figure out the manufacturing process. Here is what we have so far. Limestone rocks were brought in from Oriskany, originally by wagons and then by canal barges, and were crushed and ground using water power. The limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3) was then heated in a lime kiln to produce quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO). Carefully adding water to quicklime produced slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2). Mortar was made by mixing slaked lime with sand and water. Plaster was made by mixing mortar with hair. This process is detailed in the 1953 “Introductory College Chemistry” by Harry N. Holmes, pages 463-471. Plaster of Paris is derived from gypsum and is the hemihydrate of calcium sulfate (2CaSO4 . H2O) and is a very different substance. Buffalo hair was used at Plasterville, but other bovine hair can be used.
The first question to arise is how was the limestone crushed and ground? Chances are the limestone was already in small pieces because it was probably tailings, chips, and dust from the quarry operations, waste products. Chances are that a simple triphammer was probably used. Just pull a heavy durable pestle up to a given height, trip a switch, and let it fall. The final grinding could have been done with heavy rollers.
The next question is what fuel was used to heat it? The limestone would have to be heated to, and sustained at, between 1354 and 1620 degrees Fahrenheit. What would have been burned? Wood? Charcoal? Coal? Coke? Oil? The canal could have brought coal from Pennsylvania, but prior to that they could have used charcoal, because charcoal production was a big industry here. Then too, there is packaging, storage, and marketing. Chances are that plaster was sold in bulk as a dry mix, for easier transportation. They probably stored it near the kiln to keep it dry.
Mildred’s article states that Plasterville lime was also applied by farmers on their fields. They hauled it in winter with horse drawn sleds. The word “lime” refers to several different substances. Today most farmers use ground limestone, according to Cornell University Cooperative Extension Agronomy Fact Sheets 6 and 7. New York State has rigid specifications that manufacturers must follow. However, the 1898 “Encyclopaedic Dictionary” defines lime as calcium oxide on page 2919. So does my 1948 “Encyclopedia Americana” in volume 17 on page 404. It seems wasteful to fire up the kiln to produce calcium oxide just to spread on fields, so I suspect that they used powdered limestone. The ashes from the kiln could also have been used.
The history of Plasterville is more involved than I can mention in one article. I already have enough for a book. Here is a quick rundown of some of its highlights. In 1887 a tornado tore the roof off the mill. In 1888 timbers up to 40 feet long were sawed here for the Saint Paul church in Norwich. The logs came off the Whaupaunaucau hills. In 1913 the mill burned down. In 1921-22 the school house, which was on Route 12, was closed. In 1915 a flood destroyed the dam and the remains of the mill.
Plasterville illustrates a common theme in Chenango County. Wilderness became vibrant, thriving communities, and then reverted to wilderness of a different type. Today when we visit these historical places, we search for any remains. Often, too often, we are frustrated by their absence.
Plasterville, which is right in the path of the proposed NYRI power line, should be preserved as a historic site.
The heart of modern day Plasterville hosts a splendid diversity of scruffy bushes and struggling trees. It could legitimately qualify as boondocks, except for the audible traffic noises from the nearby roads.
I try to imagine what it was like when 200 people lived here. At least, that is what Roy Gallinger claims in his 1970 book, “Smoke Rings Over The Valley”, pages 24-26. He should know because I understand that he lived here on Whaupaunaucau Road. His information seems to have been lifted from an anonymous article in the Syracuse Herald-American (1950 January 8 Sunday page 30). Gallinger once wrote for that newspaper, so I suspect he wrote this article. He says there were 20 houses. That would translate to 10 occupants per house, seems somewhat crowded. However, I heard the place was occupied by a lot of wood shacks, and we still have hovels throughout our country where multiple residents cram together and share beds, for example, tenements and college dormitories.
The best, and most reliable, account of Plasterville is by Mildred E. Hazard in the 1999 sesquicentennial book, “Next Stop Galena ...”, pages 57-59. She provides a vivid description of the hamlet. Mildred was not around in the early 1800s when Plasterville was being developed, so she depended on what the contemporary residents wrote. Unfortunately, they did not do much writing.
The heart of Plasterville was its mills: plaster, saw, and grist. Apparently, they were originally powered by the Chenango River and then when the Chenango Canal went through, by a feeder channel to the canal. The mills were upstream of Lock 92, which was also here. The original mill was built by Jarvis Pike soon after he returned from the War of 1812. The canal did not become operational until 1837, so the mills were here first, but the canal drove an expansion of the hamlet.
The 1855 map shows the plaster mill located east of the canal and west of the river. A road once connected Route 12 and Road 32. The mill was on the south side of the road. Three bridges crossed the canal, the river, and the feeder. When the two parallel railroads were built by 1875, another bridge spanned them both. Remnants of the bridges are still there. Examination of satellite images from Google Earth revealed nothing more than we found on the ground.
In the photo is chemist John Carhart pointing to what might have been the apparent site of the old plaster mill. Our interest in Plasterville is plaster. We were trying, with scant evidence, to figure out the manufacturing process. Here is what we have so far. Limestone rocks were brought in from Oriskany, originally by wagons and then by canal barges, and were crushed and ground using water power. The limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3) was then heated in a lime kiln to produce quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO). Carefully adding water to quicklime produced slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2). Mortar was made by mixing slaked lime with sand and water. Plaster was made by mixing mortar with hair. This process is detailed in the 1953 “Introductory College Chemistry” by Harry N. Holmes, pages 463-471. Plaster of Paris is derived from gypsum and is the hemihydrate of calcium sulfate (2CaSO4 . H2O) and is a very different substance. Buffalo hair was used at Plasterville, but other bovine hair can be used.
The first question to arise is how was the limestone crushed and ground? Chances are the limestone was already in small pieces because it was probably tailings, chips, and dust from the quarry operations, waste products. Chances are that a simple triphammer was probably used. Just pull a heavy durable pestle up to a given height, trip a switch, and let it fall. The final grinding could have been done with heavy rollers.
The next question is what fuel was used to heat it? The limestone would have to be heated to, and sustained at, between 1354 and 1620 degrees Fahrenheit. What would have been burned? Wood? Charcoal? Coal? Coke? Oil? The canal could have brought coal from Pennsylvania, but prior to that they could have used charcoal, because charcoal production was a big industry here. Then too, there is packaging, storage, and marketing. Chances are that plaster was sold in bulk as a dry mix, for easier transportation. They probably stored it near the kiln to keep it dry.
Mildred’s article states that Plasterville lime was also applied by farmers on their fields. They hauled it in winter with horse drawn sleds. The word “lime” refers to several different substances. Today most farmers use ground limestone, according to Cornell University Cooperative Extension Agronomy Fact Sheets 6 and 7. New York State has rigid specifications that manufacturers must follow. However, the 1898 “Encyclopaedic Dictionary” defines lime as calcium oxide on page 2919. So does my 1948 “Encyclopedia Americana” in volume 17 on page 404. It seems wasteful to fire up the kiln to produce calcium oxide just to spread on fields, so I suspect that they used powdered limestone. The ashes from the kiln could also have been used.
The history of Plasterville is more involved than I can mention in one article. I already have enough for a book. Here is a quick rundown of some of its highlights. In 1887 a tornado tore the roof off the mill. In 1888 timbers up to 40 feet long were sawed here for the Saint Paul church in Norwich. The logs came off the Whaupaunaucau hills. In 1913 the mill burned down. In 1921-22 the school house, which was on Route 12, was closed. In 1915 a flood destroyed the dam and the remains of the mill.
Plasterville illustrates a common theme in Chenango County. Wilderness became vibrant, thriving communities, and then reverted to wilderness of a different type. Today when we visit these historical places, we search for any remains. Often, too often, we are frustrated by their absence.
Plasterville, which is right in the path of the proposed NYRI power line, should be preserved as a historic site.
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