The Crisman House

Earlier this month I was driving around with an old-timer, who was telling me who had lived where back in the day. As we drove along 73rd Avenue, he pointed to a big white farmhouse, saying, "That's the Crisman house."

Crisman! I've seen that name often enough, as anybody would who reads up on Deep River's past, but I had not known where exactly they lived. Now I knew. I vowed to come back soon with my camera. A couple of weeks later, I did.

… See that bare patch of earth behind the trees? That's where the Crisman house used to stand. I missed it by a matter of days.


(Click on image to enlarge)

I just took that picture this morning. When I first made the discovery, I was too upset to do anything. In fact, I was so upset that one night soon after, I dreamed I was looking at the bare earth where the Bullock house had stood — it had disappeared as well, and I thanked my lucky stars that I had got a picture of it beforehand. So vivid and realistic was the dream that I awoke thinking it was a memory. Many hours passed before I started questioning myself. Finally I drove out to 69th Avenue to make sure, for better or for worse.

Turned out to be only a dream.

When I drove out on 73rd this morning, I was half-hoping that the Crisman part would turn out to be a dream, too. But it didn't.

As you can see, the barn is still standing, at least for the moment. If I'm not mistaken, this land belongs to the Lake County Parks Department now.