Silos and Farms of Eastern Washington with Panatomic-X film (2024 E. WA Road Trip 08)

I love the grain silos that you see in small towns and railroad junctions in Eastern Washington. They look lonely but still substantial, surviving weather, storms, and the summer sun, year after year. Here are some Kodak Panatomic-X frames from my August 2024 road trip. Please click any picture to see more detail.

Kettle Falls

Silo, Meyers Street, Kettle Falls (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens, dark yellow filter) 

Lonely rails (100 mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens)

Kettle Falls is a small town just east of the Columbia River only 15 miles south of the Canadian border. The original town was at the banks of the river but had to move after the Grand Coulee Dam flooded the original Kettle waterfalls in the 1940s. This is a major railroad junction. I had crossed the Columbia on US 395 at Barney's Junction and stopped in town for lunch, coffee, petrol, and photos. 

Reardan

Reardan is an agricultural town on US 2 about 20 miles west of Spokane. I drove on 2 specifically to avoid using Interstate 90, and enjoyed passing through farm communities and small towns. These silos look up above the surrounding terrain as you drive on US 2 through Reardan. 

Creston

Creston is another agricultural town on US 2. I took this picture just west of Scheibner Road (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Sherman

Sherman Presbyterian Church (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens)

Sherman, established in 1888, lost population and largely closed early in the 20th century. All that remains is the handsome white Sherman Presbyterian Church sitting lonely next to the cemetery. The cemetery has graves of early settlers and even a civil war veteran. 

To reach Sherman, take Sherman Draw Road north from US 2. It is about half way between Creston and Wilbur. Much of the road is gravel and, in August, rather dusty. 

Wilbur

This lonely farm is north of US 2 just west of Wilbur. The driveway drops down from the main road and gives a good vantage point to see the house and barns. A color frame of this scene is in my previous post about central Washington. I took the B&W picture above with my 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens. It is sad that the family that once ran this household has moved away. Are they happier in the city or somewhere else? 

Govan

Govan East rail junction (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Govan is another Washington ghost town where little remains. There are some farms in the area and a few modern homes.

Abandoned Govan schoolhouse
(Portra 160 film converted to B&W with DxO Filmpack 5 software)

 

This lonely school building appears in many web pages that show ghost towns of Washington.

This ends our short tour of eastern Washington farm fields and silos. There is plenty more to explore. 

I took most of the pictures above on Kodak Panatomic-X film with my Hasselblad 50iCM camera and various lenses. All were tripod-mounted. I scanned the negatives with a Minolta Scan Multi film scanner controlled by Silverfast software. 

Small Towns in New York's Hudson Valley: Valatie (Cycle 01)

My good friend and former coworker lives in Valtie, New York. He suggested we participate on the Cycle the Hudson Valley 5-day bike tour along the Empire State Trail from Troy to New York City. That sounded fantastic! After some training, I shipped one of my bicycles to Valatie, booked a flight to Albany, and joined him in mid-August (2025). 

Valatie is a village a short distance southeast of Albany in Columbia County. This is classic rural upstate New York, near the home of President Martin Van Buren and near the setting of Washington Irving's popular short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This is beautiful country, with rolling hills, hollows, winding roads, farms, traditional barns, and forest. 

Here are some scenes in and near Valatie (no bicycling yet)

Shop local, drink coffee local

Fred and Peter patiently waiting for me to take some pictures

Beaver Mill Falls, Kinderhook River

Harry Houdini filmed scenes from Haldane of the Secret Service on the waterfall. 

Barn (or house?), 2098 River Road (Hwy. 9J), Schodack Landing

Old house with partial asphalt shingles, 601 River Road (Hwy 9J), Schodack

Note how the original (or at least old) wood clapboards are now exposed on the front. But at some stage in its history, this house was clad with asphalt shingles. We think of them as a cover for low-grade housing, but in reality, they are durable, colorfast, moisture-proof, and resist bugs.

Barn on County Rte 2, Schodack, NY

Stuyvesant Landing Depot, Stuyvesant, built in 1880

Former State Farm for Women Prisoners

We drove on State Farm Road and came across several derelect multi-floor buildings. My friend said the county had used it for office space, but he did know its original use. To me, they had the appearance of early-20th century hospitals or asylums. With some searching, I found a reference that these buildings were intended to be the State Farm for Women Misdemeanants. More detail is in the appendix below.

I took these photographs on Kodak Portra 160 film with a Canonet GIII QL17 camera. It has a superb 40mm ƒ/1.7 fully coated lens. Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, processed the film, and I scanned it with a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED film scanner.

Appendix: History of the State Farm

 

From the New York History of Medicine and Public Health:

By 1908, the Women’s Prison Association had successfully lobbied for 315 public acres for such a place, the State Farm for Women Misdemeanants, in Valatie, New York.8 The site was planned in accordance with the early 20th-century trend of cottage-designed prisons, which placed inmates in small cottages scattered across a rural setting. The cottages were set up like small homes, with a dining room, kitchen, and sitting room. Household tasks were divided among the women. The idea was to engender self-esteem in the inmates, who then might be better positioned to take on these roles once released.9

“Cottage on State Farm for Women.” In “The Modern Way,” 1913, page 14.

Bordered by the foothills of the Adirondacks, the Berkshires, the Matteawan Mountains, and the Catskills and Helderbergs, State Farm in Valatie offered tillable land, ample space, and a healthy environment. At completion, the farm was projected to have 27 buildings on the cottage plan, and would stress rehabilitation and careful supervision by an all-female staff (except for typically male roles, i.e. leadership roles like warden). Prisoners over 30 who had been convicted five times in two years qualified for accommodation.10

“Inmates’ Room, State Farm for Women.” In “The Modern Way,” 1913, page 17.

When “The Modern Way” went to print, two cottages were ready for occupancy. Fifteen hundred New York women were eligible. According to the pamphlet’s writers, every farm implement had been purchased, and the grounds were populated with horses, cattle, and poultry.11 And yet, the pamphlet’s frustrated authors argued, the land remained vacant. Appeals to two different governors and the Senate Finance Committee to fund the opening of the cottages all stalled.12 At the close of “The Modern Way” we are left wondering what happened to State Farm. Was it ever operational?

“Cattle on State Farm for Women.” In “The Modern Way,” 1913, page 20.

The answer was yes. State Farm at Valatie was completed in 1914. But in total, the Columbia County facility accommodated only 146 inmates. These were mostly white women between the ages of 30 and 60, accused of public drunkenness. Funding was always scarce. By 1918, all the inmates had been paroled, and the grounds were turned over to a treatment center for women suffering from venereal disease.13 The efforts of the Women’s Prisoners’ Association to install State Farm as a viable alternative to the Workhouse model appears to have been only successful in the short term. Nevertheless, “The Modern Way” captures an important moment in the history of the Women’s Prison Association of New York, an organization still very active in lobbying for the rights of women prisoners today.

Traditional Neighborhood: Central Avenue, Albany, New York (Tri-X film)

Albany, New York, is the capital of New York State. The city has a rich 300-year history of government, arts, and commerce. The Central Avenue neighborhood is an area of traditional early-20th century town homes, shops, and small apartments. According to the Central Avenue web page, 

"This isn’t your typical main street and that’s exactly the point. Central Avenue is where authenticity thrives and Albany’s creative pulse beats strongest. It’s home to rising artists, bold thinkers, small business pioneers, and innovators shaping what’s next."

This was all new to me because I had only once before been to Albany (after I completed the Erie Canal bike tour). 

My bicycling friend and I had just completed the Cycle the Hudson Valley ride. We joined family member for lunch at a restaurant on Central Avenue. While they lingered after lunch, I wandered around and took photos of the houses and stores. 

Central Avenue

198 Central Avenue

Fresh Bites Deli, 199 Central Avenue

Bob's Appliances, 224 Central Avenue

Robin Street and Sherman Streets

 

Standing alone, 217 Sherman Street

200 block of Sherman Street

201 Sherman Street

Note the asphalt shingles on the side of the house on the left. Decades ago, many of these buildings may have been re-shingled this way.

Robin Street

Memorial, Robin Street

Apartment, 351 Elk Stree

Houses, 421 Sheridan Avenue

201 Sherman Street

Lark Street

Row townhouses, 105 Lark Street

Townhouses, Lark Street

These handsome townhouses date from the 1880s and 1890s and form part of Albany's historic core. The area has been revitalized and gentrified over the last 20+ years. Lark Street has evolved into a prominent center for Albany's LGBTQ+ community.

This ends our short walk around historic Central Avenue. I took these photos in August 2025 on Kodak Tri-X film using my Canon Canonet GIII QL17 camera with its 40mm ƒ/1.4 lens. The negatives were very contrasty, and I had to reduce the contrast with the curve tool using Photoshop CS6. For some frames, I corrected converging vertical lines with Photoshop. This would be the place to use a shift lens on an interchangeable lens camera. Unfortunately, I did not have any yellow or orange filters with me to add some tone to the featureless sky.