185 River Street

I'm going to apologize right now for a "wimpy" post for the Carnival of Genealogy.

Our topic this time around is "Shelter from the Storm: Stories of the Home and Hearth." I could think of some great stories of ancestral homes (or even my current one), but I've been so busy lately, I didn't have the time to research properly and put together some photos. I had quite a few ancestors who were carpenters, and so you'd think I have a whole slew of ancestral homes to write about; but the trouble is, I grew up in Alaska and Washington, and everyone was living in Michigan. I only have a few memories of the homes of my grandparents and great-grandparents. One of the ones I remember best I have already written about in the "AnceStory" of my paternal grandfather, Robert Lewis Robbins. I encourage you to read his story and what I've written about the house and business he built on 185 River Street (probably with monies he received after serving in WWII).

I last saw this house in October 2000, when my husband and children took a trip back east to visit family. It hadn't been owned by the Robbins family for over 10 (maybe 15?) years at that point, and so we couldn't go in. We just slowly drove by and I took a photo. It was very sad seeing the house that I knew had been full of memories for four generations of Robbinses no longer sheltering our family. I hope the current residents appreciate the sturdiness of Grandpa's workmanship, and feel the love and laughter of 40+ years surrounding them.