Today we made another attempt to look for the final Howardsville stone that I was not able to find in 2006. This time we came in from another direction and along the way we had to pass through the remains of the tornado that passed through the area back in the summer.
Looking over aerials I noticed something odd on them and decided to check it out. It turned out to be an old hunting location.
I believe this location has not been used this year and maybe even longer. This is not in working order and the wooded ground supports are old and faded and the metal is rusting.
This had a lock on the bottom but no camera was inside it.
However, this camera was still sticking in the ground, had batteries in it that seemed to be going bad, and the card was missing but otherwise it seemed it may be in working order. I am going to wait a few months and if it is still there and the batteries have not been changed I am going to see if it still works.
The road ahead with trees down from the tornado and with Jessica trying to get through it.
After a struggle we finally made it to the area where I believed the stone was. I had looked over my info and noticed discrepancies in the old maps I have and so we started to search about 100 feet sooner than the last time. After striking out at my first choice we moved to the second which seemed more plausible. The other location was on the wrong side of the canal I was thinking.
After just a few seconds searching I saw this.
Howardsville is an old cranberry town so this stone may have been there a long time.
Old Howardsville maps call this the East Branch of the Wading River and modern maps call it the Oswego.
The dike at Howardsville
Jessica, retracing our steps for the mile walk back to the car.
If you are interested, here is a video of the tornado damage in the woods.
https://youtu.be/BW7RY5Zww8M