J. A. Drummond Farm Home

Duane's take

The official marker's the one telling this tale, and I'm just the voice carryin' it down the road. Out here in Franklin County, there stands a farmhouse that has seen the world change around it like a slow river carving new banks, and it has not budged. Not one inch.

The J. A. Drummond Farm Home was built somewhere between 1854 and 1857, and from the moment the last nail was set and the last board was laid, it has belonged to the same family.

The same family, every single year, right on through to 1963 when somebody finally thought to write it all down. Now that is a kind of staying power that most things in this world cannot claim. The shutters on that house, the outside columns holding up their corners of sky, the porch banisters worn smooth by generations of hands, all of it original, all of it standing in excellent condition.

No replacements, no imitations. The real thing, exactly as it was built. There is a particular stubbornness to a well-made thing, and to the people who keep it.

The Drummond farm is proof of both.

What the marker says

Application: Built between 1854 and 1857. This house and farm have been in the same family since the house was built. The shutters, outside columns, and porch banisters are original and are in excellent condition. (1963)