#beaver slide

[gnattybo]

and in case you’re wondering i’m not happy with this framing i swear is the camera actually off from what i’m seeing thru it probably

[cyanpixel-lemhi]

Meet my fascinating neighbor. I’m talking about the wooden structure through which a tree is growing. It’s a beaverslide hay stacker. Beaverslides were used in eastern Idaho and western Montana in the early 1900s until new haying technology came along later that century. I am happy that this one remains part of the landscape and hope to learn more about its past. It may show up from time to time in my photography. Linnea Sando was inspired to write about the“hayscape” of this agricultural region that’s bisected by the Continental Divide for her MA thesis (yes, it’s interesting) at Kansas State University. Keep your eyes open and you may see other beaverslides if you’re driving the rural backroads. 

[atlurbanist]

Atlanta’s Beaver Slide

by Darin Givens | August 2013

This is the Beaver Slide Rag, recorded in 1927 by Atlanta blues guitarist Peg Leg Howell (1888-1966). An interesting character, he had to stop farming in his native Eatonton, GA after losing a leg in an accident; he moved to Atlanta, where he became a street musician and a convicted bootlegger.

Beaver Slide was, according to Wikipedia, “an African American slum area near Atlanta University documented as early as 1882. It was replaced by the University Homes public housing project in 1937, which was razed in 2008.”

Below is a photo of Beaver Slide just before its demolition in 1937 to make way for University Homes, with Atlanta University (established in 1865 to educate formerly-enslaved people) visible in the background. Note: that background building still stands today on the Spelman College campus, as Giles Hall.

Many African American neighborhoods in Atlanta were condemned as “slums” to justify demolition, destroying long-term vibrant communities. Consider that these homes could have been given funds for renovation instead of being demolished. Beaver Slide was a neighborhood of Black homeowners who were bought out at low prices for the “clearance” of the community. It was a complex situation: the Black leaders of adjacent Atlanta University were in favor of the clearance (which was being funded and managed by the PWA). Why were they in favor? Because they wanted the area around the school to be "respectable," creating a class conflict even within the local Black community. W.E.B. DuBois spoke out against the clearance and the designation of this as a slum, but to no avail. This history is documented in the book "Black Politics in New Deal Atlanta," by Karen Jane Ferguson, a recommended read.

After the University Homes housing project that replaced Beaver Slide was taken down in 2008, there was a plan to build a mixed-income development in its place, much like the way Centennial Place Apartments replaced the Techwood Homes project.

But that development has not happened, and the space remains empty —located on Larkin Street, in between Castleberry Hill and Clark University.

UPDATE from August 30, 2019:

Frustratingly, that mixed-income development has still not happened, and the space where Beaver Slide and University Homes stood remains empty today. There's a great need for low-income housing in Atlanta right now, and we could help fill that need with a mixed-income development on this empty field of grass that's been sitting here for over a decade. 

Also, the photo of Beaver Slide has been updated to a clearer one, from the Neighborhood Union Collection, with a hat tip to Nick Strum for posting it recently.

UPDATE from September, 2024:

The mixed-income development is under construction now! It features 90 units for lower-income residents who'll receive rental assistance. Here's some info on the development from last year:

https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/mixed-income-development-coming-atlanta-university-center

[timleonhardt]

Beaverslide in Montana's Grasshopper Valley

I took this shot on a recent visit to the Grasshopper Valley near Dillon, MT. Beaverslides were used in the early 1900s to stack hay and are still in use today in certain areas of Montana. Read more about Beaverslides.

It was unfortunate that I had to take this shot under cloudy skies - a beautiful Montana Big Sky blue would have been fabulous. I'd like to return to the Grasshopper Valley in autumn to get a shot of the countryside in full fall color.

[sirrobricktheawesome]

A few of the Animal Signs I observed at the MNWR (Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge) in West Swanton, Vt. These were taken at the Cranberry Pool.