Macro Monday: Historic Math and Geometry

On Sunday one of our neighbors kindly gave us a tour of the pioneer ruins at his place, once owned by Theophilus Watkins, the man who founded our little town in 1867. The Watkins house was very interesting, and I'll post about that later this week.

What really intrigued me though was a crumbling outlying structure that pre-dates the house and town. I think macro photographers notice details other people tend to miss. Our friend had never noticed the date, math or geometry I instantly saw.

1851 carved into the west side mortar was hidden in the shadow of a more recent Hackberry tree growing very close to the building.

There was also a Natal Star, or Star of Bethlehem carved into this wall.

This was found on the north wall. Who was LAR + FT? These are not the initials of the Watkins'. Were these the initials of the first pioneers who constructed this building? Could it have been the blacksmith Mr. Roberts that had a blacksmith shop on our property?

Inside, someone was very preoccupied with math.

What was being counted, each number so close in value to the next?

And what was being tallied?

Here you can see the remains of a metal stove pipe sticking out, which tells me this was inhabited and not originally built as a barn. The second floor was sided in cypress shingles, and the walls made of dry stacked limestone covered with mortar. Some of the holes look like they were made by bullets.

The central part of this wall is gone, exposing some vertical beams. I'm thinking it was a 'dog run' style building as is often found in early Texas settlements, later the middle part enclosed for other use.

Just as predicted in a dog run cabin, there were rooms to the left and right with their own thick entrance portals.

The roof rafters were hand-hewn and you can still see the juniper bark attached.

 

If only these old walls could speak! For more up-close and personal photography, visit Macro Monday!