PIONEER VILLAGE

Ozaukee County boasts its own Pioneer Village, a pleasant collection of buildings and other objects dating back to the period between 1870 and about 1910.  For the most part, the buildings had been disassembled at their original location, moved to the Pioneer Village site and reconstructed and/or restored to the condition they had been in when they were in active use.  Most of the structures were originally located in Ozaukee County or in one of the adjoining counties.  All of the buildings are located on a relatively small parcel of land, so it is relatively easy to look through the entire village in a reasonably short period of time.

I am a sucker for highly weathered wood that is showing off its grain, and there was an ample supply of that in the village.  The following are blacks & whites, but it wouldn't have made a great deal of difference because of the silver weathering of the wood.

And here is another shot of old wood that also features an old (or at least rusty) door hinge.

I liked that there was a hint of paint in various places on the wood, such as underneath the hinge.

To save on lumber, a lot of buildings were constructed with some sort of plaster filler between the pieces of structural wood, as shown in the following.

I liked how the long pieces in the above building were basically curved over the top of the door.  Engineering precision was not critical.

In addition to the buildings there was a wealth of farm implements scattered around the property, including this modest-sized plow on the porch of one of the buildings.

I turned the following shot of the interior or a trapezoidal corn crib into a black & white to emphasize the contrast between the wood slats and the exterior light flowing in.

I liked the quality of the light in the following shot of a corridor in an "office building" that consisted of a few shops, as well as dentist's and doctor's offices.  The light coming through the door to the left was being reflected in a glass panel to the right.

I actually visited the Pioneer Village on two separate weekends.  (It is only open during the summer months on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.)  The first time I did not bring my tripod, so everything I shot was handheld.  The second time I determined to bring my tripod because a lot of the interiors were fairly dark.  That is when I ran into a minor problem.  As I set up to take a few detail shots of some old pieces of luggage in a reconstructed train station, I was questioned whether I had permission to take photographs inside the buildings.  After we got that straightened out, I was able to take all of the interior shots that I wanted.  Here are some of the shots of the luggage.

As I explained to one of the docents, I have trouble capturing larger scenes and find myself taking detail shots to make sure the viewer is directed to see what I am trying to show.

Here is a close-up of a pot-bellied stove, also in the train station.

I also got a couple of photos of lace, one of window curtains and one of lacework draped over a piece of furniture.

I couldn't help wondering if the message in the following sign was a double entendre.

And just a bit more detail: a portion of the radiator of an old farm tractor.

One of my favorite shots was of a screen door of one of the houses.  The spokes in the lower right were repeated in each of the four corners of the panel of screening.

I liked that there was just enough detail in the background to determine that it was a couple of trees.

Finally, as I was leaving I took a shot of the lichen on a gnarly piece of the wood fence that encompassed the village.

The cost of admission at the Pioneer Village is very modest (particularly if you are a "senior"), and I would highly recommend it as a pleasant way to spend a weekend afternoon.

John