Maggie Barnes, David Higgins, Kirk House, Linda Roller, Karey Solomon, Matthew Stevens, Carolyn Straniere
c ontributing P hotogr AP h E rs
Erich Asperschlager, Robert Barnes, Bernadette Chiramonte, David Higgins, Linda Roller, Karey Solomon, Isaac Spencer, Matthew Stevens, Carolyn Straniere, Amy Thorsen
d istribution t EAM
Dawn Litzelman, Grapevine Distribution, Shea Maier, Linda Roller
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The Last Great Place
Twenty Years & Counting
Our fourth issue featured local hero Clancey Prevost, which will become available as we grow our digital archive; Mike, Teresa, and first beagle Cosmo in 2008; Teresa with Cosmo and his assistant Yogi in 2013.
Twenty Years of Stories. One Pivotal Moment.
Twenty years ago, after thirty-six combined years as journalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Miami Herald, and Philadelphia magazine, Teresa Banik Capuzzo and I came home to Wellsboro (pop. 3,441), leaving what we call The Land of Statistics for something quieter—and, we believed, more true and enduring—The Land of Stories.
We bought a small house between a mountain and a creek and began publishing a magazine we called Mountain Home, “Free as the Wind.” We had one purpose: to tell beautiful stories of the people and places of northern Pennsylvania and the New York Finger Lakes.
We invited you to come up onto our porch and tell your stories. The magazine grew the way an old house grows—one room at a time, sometimes repair, sometimes whim, sometimes something unexpectedly beauti-
By Michael Capuzzo
ful. Teresa and I are blessed to say today that our 100,000 readers look to us as the beating heart of our beautiful region’s people, events, and history—and a constant source of pride and joy.
We see well-worn copies of Mountain Home on kitchen tables in Wellsboro and coffee counters in Corning and Elmira. We meet readers who have saved every issue for two decades like an ever-expanding family album. One friend recently told us he plans to give subscriptions to all seventeen of his children and grandchildren.
We have been honored by editors at The New York Times, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists who have called Mountain Home the finest rural magazine in America. We are humbled by over 200 journalism awards.
But far more important to Teresa and me is the love and trust of our readers.
And today we are at a crossroads. The economics of print have changed. The costs of paper and ink have soared. At this writing we are $29,600 behind with our longtime printer—a man who has stood by us for years.
We refuse to stop printing Mountain Home, “Free as the Wind.” You’ll still find your copy every month, delivered by Teresa’s brother Mike and his team to some 350 locations in the Twin Tiers.
But to keep the presses running—and the porch light on—we need to build a larger home. And we need your help.
Starting today, please sign up with your email to join the larger Mountain Home community at our new website, mountainhome. substack.com. We’ll deliver each new issue of
See Moment on page 28
James Fitzpatric
Tucker Worthington
TREASURE HUNTERS
Our Writers Uncover Antique and Thrift Shopping Gems
By Maggie Barnes, Lilace Mellin Guignard, David Higgins, Gayle Morrow, Linda Roller, Karey Solomon, and Carolyn Straniere
Gayle Shares Her Love(seat)
Gayle Morrow cuddles with her rescue dog Hildy on the very lucky couch.
Couch Surfing
By Gayle Morrow
Ineeded a new couch. Not necessarily brand new, but new to me. The resident couch had a lot of emotional provenance—actually, just about everything I own has some kind of origin story, like, “Oh, yeah, that came from this place during that time and from that person, which is why I can’t get rid of it, or getting rid of it will make me cry, or I’ve had that for fifty years and I can’t possibly part with it even though it serves no useful purpose…”
It comes from belonging to a family of savers, and also from a lifelong love of frequenting thrift stores (junk shops, as they’re known in some circles).
Anyhow, back to the couch. I wanted furniture with fewer memories, something more loveseat size, and I didn’t have a lot of money to spend. I know! I’ll go to NTCH! For close to twenty years, the Northern Tier Children’s Home Thrift Store, 1916 Charleston Road (check Facebook, ntchstore.tripod.com, or call (570) 724-4092), AKA the Whitneyville Store, due to its proximity to Whitneyville, or “Nitch,” as we around here say, because it’s hard to pronounce an acronym that doesn’t have vowels, has been one of my go-to plac-
es for stuff—clothing, dishes and kitchen gadgets, books, footwear (what fun to have an assortment of shoes!), CDs and DVDs (yes, some of us still have players for those forms of entertainment), linens, rugs, furniture, miscellaneous doo-dads. It’s “Oh, boy, let me at it!” when you walk in, and it’s a fun space to just wander about when you’ve got a few extra bucks and little extra time. Alas, though, while there were couches at NTCH, there were none that called to me. I looked a few different days, even donated a chair in the hopes it might jump-start my couch karma, but no luck.
In the interim, I told my sister Linda what I was looking for and asked her to keep an eye out. She lives in Covington, which puts her closer to the Treasure Chest at 2210 North Williamson Road—old Route 15, as the locals know it—than I am. Of course I go when I can—hours vary, so call (570) 659-5621 to be sure it’s open— as there are rooms full of fascinating things that you might not have realized you need, but, come to find out, you do. Tools, everything you’d want to set up a kitchen, things
with engines and motors, vinyl (it’s back, you know), antique-y items, furniture, bits and bobs, and a helpful owner in the person of Duane Starkweather.
One day Linda called from the Treasure Chest and described to me the loveseat she’d found there. Mr. Starkweather was asking seventy-five bucks for it. Did I want it? Yes! The problem was, she didn’t have that much cash with her. Would he hold the loveseat while she went to the bank?
Look, said Mr. Starkweather. I know you. There’s somebody here who can put this in your truck. Let’s get it loaded, then you can come back with the money.
About an hour later, Linda showed up in my driveway, she and I unloaded the loveseat, I gave her money, and she stopped at the Treasure Chest on her way home to pay on my behalf.
It was a comforting way to begin a new collection of furniture memories, and a classic Tioga County way to do business.
Isaac Spencer
Vintage Lilace
It's hard to define her style, but one thing is sure: You can dress Lilace Mellin Guignard up, but you can't make her pay a lot.
Not-too-Shabby Chic
By Lilace Mellin Guignard
Iwas never embarrassed when my father dug through trash cans at the beach or took something off our neighbor’s curb. The pool table with pockets he got from the dump gave me hours of fun. He was a pastor, and we always joked that he couldn’t pass up a possible resurrection.
Some of my best finds are when I duck into a store for no particular reason. My friend Nikki York and I were on a birthday adventure in Ithaca, hiking and celebrating another year for both of us, when she asked if we could stop at Mimi’s Attic at 401 Elmira Road (mimisatticithaca.com, (607) 882-9038). Nikki is a powerthrifter, so I agreed. The large space has more than ten dealers with booths, and we browsed our way through with me making a note to come next time I need furniture or lamps. I tend to scan pretty quickly, especially with a waterfall hike in my near future, but a teal glass and gold choker costume necklace found its way into my hand. A lonely orange fox saltshaker soon joined it. (I collect foxes so didn’t mind that there was no mate.) Then Nikki took me to the racks of vintage clothes, and my heart exploded.
As a theater kid who has hit my apex in my fifties, I am always looking for clothes that sparkle or shine for the odd variety show or for plays from specific eras. Like the polyester A-line dress with collar in a groovy watermelon pink and lime green octagon pattern. Yeah, that was coming home. I handed Nikki a short three-quarter sleeve jacket in deep red velour to try on, wishing I’d find something that sexy in my size. I used the small fitting room to see if the long black velour and mesh dress fit. It did and actually filled a need for my winter choral concerts. When I looked up, Nikki was handing the red jacket back to me. I protested it was too short (I’m long waisted), but she insisted I try it on. It actually fit in the shoulders with room to move. It joined my stash and waited patiently in my closet till the holiday season, when everyone oooed and ahhed over it. To which I replied: thrift store find!
Recently a new store called Stories Past and Present (find it on Facebook) opened in Wellsboro, beckoning me down
some slate stairs at 87 Main Street to a bright and colorful world of home décor, fashion accessories, and, you guessed it, vintage clothing racks. Stocked by several different vendors, each is uniquely curated. The coats always draw me first—a good previously-enjoyed wool coat can’t be beat. One vendor takes flannel shirts and adds screen printed vintage decals in a variety that means finding the shirt and decal you adore in your size means God clearly wants you to have it. There was a silver blazer that was, alas, the wrong size, but I’ve brought home a western style shirt with fine silver threads and pearl snaps and an orange wool hat with a brim in a man’s style but small enough for a woman’s head.
As the name claims, there are items for sale from the “present” but it’s their stories from the past that makes this shop one I stick my head in every time I’m downtown. A pair of semi-risqué hillbilly mugs made the perfect Christmas gift for a friend who has everything.
Teresa Banik Capuzzo
(2)
Lilace Mellin Guignard
Carolyn Collects
Two Thrifty for Myself
By Carolyn Straniere
Come with me as we venture to two of my favorite places in Mansfield: Route 6 Country Shoppes and My Neighbors’ Closet. If you love all things thrifted, as well as antiques and handmade items, then those are, without a doubt, fun stores you need to check out.
I stumbled upon Route 6 Country Shoppes, 18610 Route 6, just east of Mansfield, one afternoon, their OPEN flag beckoning me to come in (see them on Facebook or call (570) 404-0766). From the moment I stepped inside, I realized this wouldn’t be a quick trip. Oh no, this was going to be a well-spent afternoon browsing all the nooks and crannies!
I met Tom Coates who, along with his wife Debra, opened the shop in 2019 as a way to sell the beef they raised on their farm. There are forty-two vendors set up in booths and displays, each with their own unique variety of items. My weaknesses? Kitchen gadgets from the ’40s and ’50s, and vintage linens, so off I went to see if I could add to my collection.
Beautiful not-antique-but-not-new jelly cabinets were the handiwork of Phil and Gail Andrews, who use powdered paints on these ongoing projects (they also make tables and benches) they purchased over
thirty years ago from a company that was going out of business. Gorgeous (local) Glenfiddich knitted sweaters and scarves, hand-thrown pottery, mid-century modern bric-a-brac, and colorful Pyrex were some of what caught my eye. Classic toys from my childhood and beyond filled an entire booth! I poured through vinyl records, and books from all eras. In the end, I bought a vintage apron that reminded me of my grandmother when she made dinner on Sunday.
My Neighbors’ Closet, 382 South Main Street, Mansfield, (570) 513-0962, is another great place to find one-of-a-kind pieces at amazing prices. Relying solely on donations, this store is a thrifter’s paradise— you never know what you’ll find.
On this particular visit, I was looking for curtains for my back porch but wandered through the clothes racks first. I scooped up a colorful sweater before checking out the cases of estate and antique jewelry. Nearby, a leather-topped side table from the ’40s was home to a bedside lamp with fringed shade alongside a display of other period pieces.
What I love about My Neighbors’ Closet, owned and operated through Part-
ners in Progress, is that they employ those with intellectual disabilities, giving them opportunities to develop real-world job skills. Rikki Schmelzle, store manager for fourteen of the seventeen years it’s been in existence, oversees the fourteen workers. There are job coaches who guide them in their daily tasks, three work-study students from Commonwealth University-Mansfield, plus a team of seven volunteers working behind the scenes who sort through the donated clothing, books, dishes, furniture—you get the idea. You’ll also find Highland Chocolates products, local maple syrup, and local honey. If that wasn’t enough, My Neighbors’ Closet is a pick-up/drop-off location for Faxon Dry Cleaners, as well as a shredding center for documents (contact them for details). Need a helium balloon for a special occasion? They’ve got you covered.
Rikki mentioned the tent sales held on Fridays during the summer—everything is a quarter! And once a month they allow vendors and the community to set up their own ‘yard sale’ on the premises.
(3) Carolyn Straniere
Carolyn Straniere shows off her growing collection of china— just like her grandmother’s.
Linda Can Dish It Out
Linda Roller is happy to be blue with her new-old dishes, and is celebrating the year of the dragon chair.
The Joys of a Second Hand Rose
By Linda Roller
As a dedicated Second Hand Rose, I find a new thrifting location is a gift just waiting to be opened. Heading to Give Back, the new community thrift at 111 East Main in Lock Haven, (570) 8585153, was like walking into a recharged Salvation Army. Plenty of clothes, housewares, games, puzzles, toys, furniture, framed art, and just plain unique stuff.
Bree, Devin, Dan, and Jennifer Hilty were there to talk to me about their new store (it opened in October 2025). The Hiltys have deep roots in the building, as their grandparents were the Salvation Army officers who founded the store in Lock Haven. The walls are adorned with the history of their work. Dan is a long time frequent flyer/buyer to secondhand stores, auctions, and community sales. Give Back started with people experienced in buying and preparing stock for sale.
My first trip was reconnaissance, and I hope I also secured a new friendship in the Hilty family and saw a different way of running a thrift store. You see, Give Back is not just the store’s name, but a mission—they give a donation to local nonprofits, and not
just a token amount. Give Back gives back $2,000 or more each month. Recipients so far have been Love Center, Dwell, Salvation Army, and Precise for Paws. They helped out with Mark the Shark Toy Drive during the holiday season. The community has responded with donations of inventory and loyal customers.
I love little tables for the shop and work areas, and a couple caught my eye during my visit. Later in the week, I saw more on their Facebook video. I need to get back with my trusty measuring tape and find my next library table for the book shop!
Warehouse 124, 124 Reynolds Street, South Williamsport, (570) 971-7410, has been in Williamsport, in one form or another, for years. It wasn’t too long ago that my sister, Nancy, took a family heirloom there for James Vanderlin to restore. It was there we learned that the “Dragon Chair” was not that old and was probably made for a lodge or service organization. Not a valuable chair, but it was filled with family memories. Restoration was worth it to us.
James has retired from woodworking and furniture restoration, but still does it for his wife, Pennie Vanderlin, who owns Warehouse 124 and runs it with their daughter, Jennilee Raplee. Initially, the business was focused on furniture but, as Pennie says, “I started buying little things to highlight the furniture and those small items sold better than what they sat on.” The store is filled with those “little things,” arranged to catch and delight your eye, like the year-round Christmas nook, providing a Santa fix anytime. I saw a group of Pyrex from the 1950s that had a green rim. If they had been the red rimmed ones faded to pink, I might have had to take them home.
“We have to keep evolving to customer’s tastes.” Pennie says, noting that what sold twenty years ago will now collect dust.
Headed out the door, I saw a stack of blue-patterned dishes. I have a thing for dishes, though I tend to use them and then donate them, so that I can buy the next set that talks to me. They went home with me to replace a brown set that I loved and chipped. Those will now be saucers under plants.
Linda Roller
Courtesy Linda Roller
The Fabric of Karey's Life
Karey Solomon loves a good yarn (left); at Sew What, Barbara Klem, Cassie, and Mary Lou Chappell (holding fabric) feed Karey's fiber addiction; Margaret Ball at Sew Green Ithaca (right) has a notion she can help you find what you need.
Sew, Sew Good!
By Karey Solomon
Mention the term “high fiber diet” and my mind goes to threads, yarns, fabric, and the shuttles, hooks, and needles for tatting, crocheting, and sewing. For a fiber lover, they’re all so irresistible—but they add up when they’re bought new. Luckily resale stores offer the curated surplus from others who failed to resist, until good sense (thankfully absent in me) told them some had to go.
Regionally, this began in 2007 with Sew Green in Ithaca, originally a not-for-profit store begun by writer and sewing-machine whisperer Wendy Skinner.
Wendy began with donations of sewing machines she refurbished, and fabric and yarn made neat and presented beautifully at tempting, quick-turnover prices. She taught sewing classes and machine-repair classes for children and adults, creating a welcoming space for people from a variety of backgrounds who found common ground in their love of fibers. She also fielded dozens of emails from around the world asking about her business. Not surprisingly, other stores followed.
Now owned by Draya Koschmann, today’s Sew Green (sewgreenithaca.com, (607) 319-4106) in Press Bay Court at 112 West Green Street, # 5, is where people come to discover fabrics, yarns, antique buttons and beads, embroidery threads, tools—even new
ones such as fabric cutting mats—notions, and advice, says Margaret Ball. I always look for nineteenth century buttons here; beautiful fabric might jump into my basket as well.
Draya added a classroom space she calls the Art Room a few doors down, stocked with machines and a free art supply cabinet. A local institution after nearly two decades in the community, “We definitely feel loved by our customers. It’s nice to hear we’ve made an impact, and it’s fun to be part of that legacy.”
“We’re not a store, we’re a community,” says Barbara Klem of Sew What in Auburn, 25 Seminary Street, Suite 3 (sewwhatcyny. org, (315) 282-7277). After the demise of several large craft stores, Barbara and some friends consulted Wendy, who encouraged them to try a version of the Sew Green model.
In 2025 the store took in and processed more than 25,000 pounds of fabric, needlework tools and supplies, yarn, notions, books, and more. It’s set up like a library of fiber arts, with rows of shelving for needlework staples. At the front you might find obscure vintage tools they’re hoping to identify; at the back are comfy armchairs.
This is a great place to find sewing and crochet threads, tatting supplies, embroidery threads, and patterns. A friend who’s a fre-
quent customer loves finding partly-finished quilts to complete. Prices are low. In turn, Sew What donates much of their proceeds to almost two dozen nonprofits.
Amy Thorsen visited Sew What and told one of the volunteers this was exactly her dream business. She was immediately introduced to Barbara. “She said, ‘you can do this, you should, you will, and you will be successful!’” Amy says now. The fabric chicken she took home now sits next to her cash register. “It’s the totem for encouraging each other in what we do and believing in ourselves and our dreams.”
Amy, who formerly worked as a financial planner, opened the Fabric Chicken at 94 East Market Street, Corning, check out their Facebook or call (607) 301-0519, last fall. She sells art and craft supplies, fabric, yarn, and more. I bought more than I intended—everywhere I turned, I found something else delightful, including a friend I hadn’t seen all winter. Amy loves helping people get access to things they might not otherwise be able to find. “Besides,” she says cheerfully, “there’s two hobbies here—making things and buying stuff.”
Amy Thorsen
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Karey Solomon
Colorful Finds at Colorful Shops
By Maggie Barnes
My mother would stand near the trash can with an empty milk jug and say, “A clever person would think of something to do with this.” We’d shrug at each other and into the can it went.
Recycling is very clever, and completely doable once you find a few thrift shops that match your style.
It’s easy to miss the Purple Iris boutique as you glide along South Main Street in Horseheads. Its number is 705 in a small strip of businesses that sit right at the edge of the street.
I was on the hunt—I was having a professional photo taken and needed just the right look. Owner Georgeann Orman knows all about hunts. Everybody tells her what their situation is. She hears it all, from the newly divorced to those starting over after living on the edge of society. Any budget is welcome at the Purple Iris. “A big part of what I do is to lift women up,” she says. “Here women are celebrated and encouraged.”
The shop is for women’s clothes and accessories only, which ramps up the comfort level and leads to lots of interactions when you step out of the dressing room.
“Oh, that’s darling on you! All you need is a cute jacket. Do you have some sparkly sandals?” I once accused Georgeann
of planting people around the shop just to tell you how good you looked. She neither confirmed nor denied.
It was the fourth blouse I tried on that made me grin at my reflection and I knew we had a winner. Three-quarter sleeves, a soft pink with tiny flowers and a scoop neck. Comfy yet stylish, and every woman in the world would tell you that’s not an easy combo to find.
“Why pay the difference when you can’t tell the difference?” As business slogans go, you really can’t argue with this one.
Find the Purple Iris on Facebook and at thepurpleirisboutique.squarespace.com, or call (607) 426-4701.
A frigid Saturday morning had me yearning for somewhere soft to sit and something hot to sip. Waverly’s downtown offered both at the Red Door thrift shop, (607) 249-6062, Facebook, and theopendoormission.com, in the heart of the village at 359 Broad Street. Warmth, smells of coffee and chocolate, and the sound of music greeted me. A gentleman, singing, nodded from behind his guitar. I got a cup, found a vintage easy chair, and settled in for a minute. Which turned into thirty minutes as I looked over the shelves and tables
with household items, dishes of every description, lamps, books, and jewelry, and all so artfully displayed I didn’t know where to start.
I tackled an old travel trunk with linens, tablecloths, and such. I was nearly to the bottom and losing hope, when I saw a corner of fabric in a glorious green. Not Christmas green, not neon green, a warm, woodsy green. I tugged gently and a perfect table runner emerged, lovingly handstitched with only a couple of hiccups.
I needed something for the dining table after the holidays went out and before summer came in. I couldn’t have designed anything better, and certainly not for $7! That find also brought a stack of books into my vision. Rachel Ray and her thirty-minute meal magic smiled up at me, and I pounced.
The Red Door is also a social center, hosting support groups for alcohol abuse, a food pantry, and a supply of personal products for anyone in need. The helpful staff are educated about local resources. Visit the Red Door, even if you aren’t looking for anything. I doubt you will leave empty-handed.
Mark Webster Media
Robert Barnes
Maggie Barnes with the winning blouse and her dog Rex (left), and having tea with her late winter table runner.
Flowers for Maggie
David Has a (Fur) Ball
David Higgins brought home new bocce balls (left), and Leah reads to the cats at the Humane Society of Schuyler County—which you can bring home!
Oldies Tricks, New Dogs
By David Higgins
Ihave an ulterior motive whenever I go to Oldies But Goodies, on Facebook, or call (607) 562-7416, my favorite antique emporium. I think of it as “nostalgia farming.” Here, at 10 Carpenter Road, just off Route 352 in Big Flats, I curate my memories.
See the glass candy dish in that booth on the second floor, in the shape of a hen? My Grandma had one just like it (and I bet yours did, too). And suddenly I’m six years old, in her apartment on Lake Street in Elmira, and I’m tormented by the thought of the candy within: the starbrites, the butterscotch disks, the root beer barrels. And if I’m good, because of course I’m always good, I can have one piece after my lunch of tomato soup. Instant reminiscence!
In another nook is a display of NASCAR memorabilia, and I get another twinge. There’s a poster of…Tony Stewart, in his prime. Is that good ol’ boy still racing? By now, he’s an old-timer, just like me.
And as crazy as it sounds, sometimes I feel a fake nostalgia for something I’ve never even experienced: today, a set of used bocce balls in their original box. Just by cradling one, I can imagine a summer afternoon, smell the cigars, and hear happy voices and the clink of the balls. I’m not Italian, but I have a sudden urge to go get some cannoli
and gabagool. Mi fa piacere!
Half the fun at OBG lies in negotiating its maze of rooms. It sprawls across two floors in five connected buildings; even now, I still get lost. Jane and Bill Mullen started the business in 1983. Five additions later, it’s still going strong as The Shoppes at Oldies But Goodies, helmed by Deb Rickard, and hosts over 100 different vendors.
A bonus is the location. Next door is a horse farm boasting a colonnade of huge silver maples and the last standing tobacco barn in Big Flats. Harris Hill, since 1930 the soaring capital of America, looms to the east. There’s not a subdivision in view, and that seems just about right.
Wags to Riches is an upscale resale boutique located 313 North Franklin Street in the heart of Watkins Glen, on Facebook, or call (607) 210-4263. It’s all-volunteer, and all proceeds go to a no-kill animal shelter, the Humane Society of Schuyler County. It offers lightly used clothing, accessories, shoes, books, and housewares, all at great prices. There are curated racks of beautiful dresses, coats, and accessories, featuring brand names like Alfred Dunner, Steve Madden, London Fog, Patagonia, Coach, Burberry, Anne
Klein, and Calvin Klein. There’s an amply stocked “Pet Corner” featuring an assortment of pet supplies.
It’s a tradition for human friends to bring their adopted (and often, rescued) pups to Wags to Riches for pictures, which are posted on the store’s Facebook page. Dobby, Flash, Socrates, McDuff, Patsy Cline, and Pinto Bean were all in just recently. Beemer was there too, wearing his little sheriff hat. In summer, it’s a regular stop for the retired racers of the Grapehound Wine Tour. And last year, even Instagram star Zeke the Pigeon, a rescue from the streets of New York City, popped in; he very thoughtfully wore a pair of bird diapers during his visit.
Housed just down the road in Montour Falls, the HSSC offers a spay/neuter program and wellness clinics, a “pet pantry” providing food and litter at low cost, and a Pet Pals program, where kids can practice their comprehension skills by reading books to the critters. One regular Pet Pal is Leah A., twelve, who mostly reads to the cats. “I like reading Bad Kitty’s Birthday, and they like biting the pages,” says Leah.
David Higgins Erich Asperschlager
Horse Power
By Kirk House
Almost 14,000. That’s how many horses Steuben County folks had back in 1860. From what we can see, they used horses overwhelmingly as draft animals, rather than for riding. A good horse became a partner. The milkman’s horse knew which houses to stop at, and when to push on for the next delivery. Vineyard horses instantly halted when they felt resistance, lest they tear up a vine.
This 1907 post card (top) was printed in Mansfield, but we assume that “Mechanic Street” is the one in Lawrenceville, where the card was mailed...as a birth announcement. The writing at the bottom of the post card identifies the driver as “Arthur.”
This 1907 pair (right, bottom) doesn’t look especially enthusiastic, but they are making history! They’re about to pull the last stage run from Troupsburg, New York, to Knoxville, Pennsylvania. A few horse-drawn stagecoach routes operated in our region until after the Great War.
Oxen were often used for heavy loads. But though oxen were stronger, horses were faster. Lumberjacks in Greenwood, New York (left, bottom), are counting on horses to haul this loaded sledge. Eight horsepower? Yes, which apparently takes six men, a boy, and a photographer to handle. This road crew (opposite, top) is working in Erwin, near Painted Post. Believe it or not (opposite, bottom), that’s a cabbage planter, though also useful for tomatoes, tobacco, and other crops. According to the sales brochure it needs “one driver, two boys”—not to mention the horse, of course. This scene is in Hubbardsville (town of Rathbone), New York.
Kirk House is a historian, writer, hiker, and birder from Bath, New York. He’s director of Steuben County Historical Society, and he also collects comic books.
“Eight Horsepower” photo courtesy Corning-Painted Post Historical Society. All others from Steuben County Historical Society.
High on the Mountain
March Awakening at The Muck
By Matthew Stevens
By the time March settles into Tioga County, there’s a quiet agreement between winter and spring: neither is quite ready to let go. Snow still clings to shaded corners, frost still stiffens the grass in the early hours, and yet—something has shifted. You can feel it before you see it. For me, that shift always leads back to one place: The Muck.
As a photographer, I’ve learned that some of the most powerful moments don’t arrive with fanfare. They arrive slowly, like breath returning to cold lungs. The Muck in March is exactly that. It’s not flashy. It’s not polished. It’s raw, wet, half-frozen earth waking up. And, every year, I’m drawn there before sunrise, camera in hand, knowing something special is about to unfold.
The morning begins in near silence. The sky is usually washed in pale blues and soft purples, barely awake itself. Mist hovers low over the water, blurring the line between land and sky. My boots sink slightly into the muddy ground, a reminder that this place earned its name honestly. Then, almost without warning, the first notes arrive.
A single red-winged blackbird calls out.
Then another.
Then ten more.
Their sharp, metallic songs cut through
the stillness like sparks. Soon, the air fills with sound. Canada geese announce themselves in rolling choruses. Ducks chatter and splash, sending ripples across mirrored water. It builds and builds until the quiet of winter is replaced by something almost overwhelming—a living orchestra rising from the marsh.
It’s loud. Surprisingly loud.
People who haven’t experienced it might imagine peaceful birdsong drifting gently through the air. This is different. This is nature clearing its throat after months of silence. This is celebration. It’s chaotic, layered, relentless. It feels like every feathered soul is shouting, “We made it.”
And then the sun joins in.
As it crests the horizon, golden light pours across The Muck like spilled honey. It catches on wings mid-flight, turns frost into diamonds, and sets the water on fire. Suddenly, everything is alive. Shadows stretch and retreat. Steam lifts from hidden channels. The landscape transforms minute by minute, and I’m scrambling to keep up, clicking away, trying to preserve something that can’t really be held.
What I love most is how this awakening mirrors something deeper. After months of gray skies and short days, we humans are
waking up too. We’ve been tucked away indoors, carrying the weight of winter quietly. Standing there among thousands of voices, watching life surge back into the world, it’s impossible not to feel renewed.
Through my lens, I’m not just documenting birds. I’m capturing resilience. Cycles. Proof that even after the hardest seasons, beauty returns—loud, unapologetic, and full of joy.
The Muck in March doesn’t whisper spring.
It sings it.
And every year, I’m grateful to be there to listen.
Matthew Stevens, a thirty-six-year-old Marine Corps veteran and lifelong resident of the rugged mountains of northern Pennsylvania, is the owner and photographer of High on the Mountain Photography. With a passion for capturing the natural beauty and untold stories of his home region, he specializes in portrait, event, and nature photography while also volunteering his time to shoot local school sports and community events.
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Matthew Stevens
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BACK OF THE MOUNTAIN
The Bluebird of Spring
By Bernadette Chiaramonte
While on a brief excursion to Ives Run Recreation Area on Hammond Lake in Tioga, Pennsylvania, a picturesque snow flurry briefly emerged. I noticed this male eastern bluebird steadying itself against the wind on a nearby robust mullein plant. Bluebirds are a joy to behold in any season, but are a particularly bright spot during the transition from winter to spring.
