Farm Archaeology: Two Artifacts

There are still active farms in Bolingbrook – complete with farm houses, barns, fields, tractors. But there’s not much left of the farm my subdivision now stands on. But I’ve noticed two things that offer a glimpse of our history:

A section of wood fence, left behind because it was surrounded by a thicket of scraggly trees, a remnant from the farms that used to cover the neighborhood. It sits on land still waiting to “be developed,” next to a soybean field (this year), and flanked by warehouses.

An old tree – too old for a developer to have planted it – grows next to Lily Cache Creek, probably why the  farming family didn’t bother to cut it down. Note the block of homes behind.

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  1. […] My house stands on what used to be someone’s farm. Their home was here. Their family lived out every day on this land, under this sky. There were crops, animals, and outbuildings. Now, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of houses, here. Not much is left from the farm days but a few kitchy street names: Farmside, Harvest, Calico, Red Barn. (Well, there is one old tree, and a fence post.) […]