From there, I walked down the south side of the house, towards the pond. On the south side is the area where the butternut grove was. The butternut grove was wiped out in the Cyclone of 1898. Then I started walking north along the pond, going counterclockwise, starting near the north end of the pond. The farm across the road is the old Heman Downing farm.

Still walking counterclockwise across the north side, then heading south along the west side. The photo just above on the right is one I was still at the north end of the pond.

Starting below is looking northwest across the road; the barn is part of what was the Heman Downing farm but the barn is much more recent than 1855. The 2nd in sequence below is looking south the whole length of the pond. The tall trees at the very back of the picture are the trees surrounding what was Preston Prairie School. The road, barely visible on the right (west side) is Preston Road. The last photo in the series below is at the south-east end of the pond and shows the whole Heman Downing farm well.

If you have any comments or questions pleast contact

Alice Horner the contributor. And again many thanks to Carol Hoge for allowing us to take these pictures.