Musings of a native…
How often does the spelling of a town’s name change? The small Hamlet of Halcottsville (or Halcottville- no S) has gone through a name change through the years, losing the S then regaining it years later. In the early 1900’s, according to postmarks seen on early postcards, the S was used at least in 1906 for many years. When it became Halcottville (no S) is unknown to me. At the time the white iron signposts that were erected at each of the hamlet were installed it became Halcottville (no S). These signs were in place through the 60’s until Route 30 was re-routed above the hamlet. I was told that as late as 1969 there was still no S in the name. Sometime after that DOT must have discovered the S and added it to the signage. To this day, older natives of the hamlet vary in the pronunciation of it and many conversations have centered around the “real’ spelling.
As a community, Halcottsville hasn’t changed much. The old firehouse is now a museum with a newer bigger building across the street, the old Griffin’s store is still an operating post office but the general store has been gone for years. The Grange Hall, home to so many church suppers by the Methodist Church congregation, has been restored and used for various events. The Old School Baptist Church in the center of town would be opened once a year for services and was always somewhat scary to peek inside expecting to see a ghost. Behind the church were sheds that were used for parking and storage but the main attraction would be the ringing of horseshoes on summer nights. This writer learned how to pitch there with the local men and at one time was the Northern California Ladies Horseshoe champion.
Clear drinking water ran out of Bragg Hollow to the hamlet through a small reservoir which was treated periodically with some sort of purification system but we all knew when the water coming into our kitchens was “riley” not to drink it. Bragg Hollow was all farms and the cows regularly crossed the stream to go to pasture. To this day, that may be a reason why a lot of locals have not had some of the dreaded diseases of today as we ingested many types of bacteria from those cows and run-off from the fields.
It was a wonderful sheltered life growing up in the little hamlet with friends from those days still friends today.
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