Goodrich-Landow Log Cabin

Every Sunday morning as we drove back and forth to church down Goodrich Road we passed the log cabin that was part of the Landow house. I found it endlessly fascinating, but never had the opportunity to go in.

Many years later my daughter had to make a log cabin as a school project. My mind immediately flashed to the same log cabin, now nestled securely in front of the Clarence Historical Society on Main Street. So off we went. It was a unique opportunity to give the kids a chance to see the real thing. We lucked out that day, as one of the volunteers restoring the cabin was there. He enthusiastically showed us around the inside, pointing out all the nooks and crannies that were put to utilitarian use.

We were ill-prepared at that time to appreciate all that he had told and shown us. Also, the second floor had yet to be stabilized for public viewing and safety. Luckily the WNY Heritage magazine did an in-depth story on this a few years later, complete with up-dated pictures after the restoration was complete (Summer 2004 - the issue is still available for purchase):

"The Town of Clarence, the oldest in Erie County (1808), has succeeded in restoring, for educational purposes, the best surviving pioneer Yankee log cabin in the county. The exemplary community effort restored an important architectural history document that will continue to grow in importance."

It is named after one of the early settlers in the area who was most likely the builder (Levi Goodrich), and also the last residents (the Gustav Landow family). Clarence is fortunate to have such a treasure, and also the dedicated people who took such pride and care in restoring it for all to learn from and enjoy.

WNY Heritage Magazine with the Race Car Driver

I just bought my first issue of WNY Heritage magazine. It obviously has been out for a while, since this is Volume 10, and I may have even seen it in the past, but I never actually focused on it before. It's a bit pricey, but well worth the money. It is very high quality paper and has a selection of well written, in-depth articles with many historic photographs and illustrations of history in Western New York.

The Summer '07 issue is currently on the stands, for a little while anyway. In it there is an article on midget car racing in the old Buffalo Civic Stadium. This may sound familiar, as it is something I wrote about in the article about Parker alumnus ('47) Bill Rafter. Sure enough, Bill gets a mention near the end of the article (page 51), along with a picture showing him driving in a winning race. Of course, there's a current picture of him in the Parker Reunion pix, sans car. The article is written by Keith Herbst, author of a book on auto racing 1935-1960 in our area, called Daredevils of the Frontier.

Later on, as I was browsing through the Definitely Buffalo Store in Main Place Mall, I came upon an assortment of back issues. Rather than return them to the publisher when the new one comes out, the proprietor keeps them as an edition to the historical books she carries. So I picked up another one. I'll probably end of with one of everything she has!

I have quite the collection of non-fiction books and magazines that I've read part of, and mean to get back to "someday", and that I use for references. The WNY Heritage magazines are worthy additions.

*UPDATE* I have read the entire Summer '07 issue and am working on the other one now. The magazine is definitely very interesting!