Rush County Historical Society

10/24/2026

There is a fence that needs no posts, no post holes, and no concrete. It just zigzags.

The worm fence, also called a Virginia worm or snake fence, is built from split rails, most often about 10 feet long, stacked in a zigzag line. Where two stacks meet at an angle, the rails overlap and shorter cross pieces, around 6 to 6 and a half feet, are laid over the top to lock the corner. The weight of the rails does the work. There are no vertical posts at all.

That design had practical advantages. The fence could be moved to change field sizes, grazing areas, or property lines without new post holes or rotting posts left behind. In rocky ground or hard subsurface layers, where digging post holes was nearly impossible, it avoided the problem entirely. And the zigzag shape worked on irregular terrain where a straight fence line was awkward.

One point to keep in mind: the sources I used do not give how much timber a full fence needed, so I will not guess. What is clear is that it was a design built around a readily available material and the ability to pick it up and move it.

Have you ever seen one of these zigzag fences still standing?

10/24/2026

Every old farmyard had one, and most people never knew how it actually pulled water up from the ground.

A shallow-well hand pump has two key parts inside. At the bottom of the cylinder is a flapper valve. On the end of the handle's plunger is a leather cup. When you move the handle, the plunger and the cup create a vacuum in the cylinder that draws water up the drop pipe. Water trapped above the flapper valve forces the plunger valve open, and the next stroke pushes the water out of the spout. About 10 strokes give roughly one gallon.

That is why priming matters. You pour water in at the top until it flows out of the spout, then wait around 4 to 5 minutes so the leather cup swells against the cylinder wall and seals. Running the pump dry can damage the leather.

There is also a hard limit. This kind of pump works only when the water level is 25 feet or less below it, and that number drops by about one foot for every 1,000 feet of elevation. In freezing weather the pump has to be drained or protected, or the water in the pipe can freeze.

Did you grow up with a pump like this, and do you remember how many strokes it took to get water?

10/24/2026

Before indoor plumbing, a wooden shed over a hole was the family bathroom, and it had its own engineering rules.

An outhouse is a small shelter with a plank seat, set over a pit in the ground. Early outhouses were shallow pits, and liquid soaked directly into the soil. When the pit filled faster than the waste broke down, the shelter itself was picked up and moved over a freshly dug hole, and the old one was covered with dirt. George Washington ordered a privy at Mount Vernon moved this way, and he described the old one as an eyesore in a letter from 1796.

Placement was a safety question as much as a comfort one. Outhouses sat far enough from the house to keep away flies and smells. A pit dug too close to a well, or below the water table, could contaminate drinking water, especially in areas where limestone has cracks that let liquid travel. The government published guidance as early as 1911 in a publication titled The Sanitary Privy, and outdoor plumbing stayed common outside cities until after World War II.

It is easy to laugh about now, but this was a normal part of rural life for generations.

Did your grandparents or great-grandparents still have one on the property?

10/24/2026

10/23/2026

That orange dotted with dark brown buds wasn't meant for eating.

In Victorian homes, an orange studded with fragrant cloves could become a scented decoration or a small seasonal gift.

The dried clove buds released a warm, spicy scent, while the bright citrus fruit made the arrangement eye-catching.

People called this a pomander.

Earlier pomanders took many forms, including little containers of aromatic substances worn or carried as perfume.

Some people once believed sweet smells helped protect against disease, but that was a historical belief—not proof of medical protection.

Greenwich Historical Society and the British Museum both document the Victorian orange-and-clove tradition.

One familiar fruit became something designed to be smelled, displayed and remembered.

10/23/2026

The glass balls on old barn roofs were part of one of the earliest safety systems on the farm.

The lightning rod was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1753, and he considered it his most important invention. The idea is simple. A metal rod is mounted at the highest point of the building. A copper cable connects it and runs down the side of the structure into the ground. If lightning strikes, the charge follows the cable into the earth instead of passing through the barn itself.

Many old rods had a sharp point and a glass ball on the shaft. The ball was said to break if a bolt struck the rod, which gave farmers a visible sign. In the 1800s many people also believed the points repelled lightning or even produced rain, which was not true. Salesmen selling rods also gave the technology a bad reputation for a while, until local hardware stores began to stock reliable ones.

Modern farm systems follow the same logic with more parts: air terminals, conductors, at least two ground connections for most buildings, and bonding of metal objects. Extension guidance recommends a certified installer and yearly inspection, since a roof repair or a new addition can change how well the system works.

Does your barn or farmhouse still have its old lightning rods?