Dean hit the nail on the head for me too.Whenever I encounter one of these old house's or barn's my mind shifts to thought's of these homesteaders grit and determination.Trying to scratch out an existence for themselves and their family's and their ultimate failure.Most probably moved back to the cities in hope of work.
Another thought along the same lines is when I see all our old brick factory building from the 1800's here in New England now for the most part abandoned and empty. A reminder of our industrial might in years now long gone...On a positive note three of the factory building's that was part of the Parker family industrial empire are still in use today...Thanks for letting me reminice.....