The Palace Hotel—561 Main

By Eilene Lyon A Brick Edifice Durango was founded in 1881. Many original buildings, particularly those built of wood, no longer exist. This is the third in a series of the oldest buildings standing on Main Avenue, originally called First Street. What is now the 500 block abuts the railroad depot. Being the principal method... Continue Reading →

Bio Bite: Myron Leslie Halse

Myron Leslie Halse (1908–1972) Myron Leslie Halse was the 6th child born to Guy and Mabel (Cutting) Halse. He attended school in Dexter, South Dakota, to 8th grade. At age 21, he married Gladys Belle Brown in Rupert, Idaho. Prior to the marriage, he lived and worked at the Brown family dairy farm. By 1935,... Continue Reading →

From the Vault: Conchs

By Eilene Lyon Though it has been a very long time since I lived anywhere near a seashore, I do have a small but sentimental shell collection. Among them are these three conch (pronounced "conk") shells. The largest came from a tiny, uninhabited island that is part of the Belize Cayes, somewhere off the Caribbean... Continue Reading →

The Gourd Houses

By Eilene Lyon Some years ago, a next door neighbor gifted me four hollow gourds she'd grown and asked me to make birdhouses out of them. I said I would, then left them lying around the garage for a very long time. I did finally get around to the project, though! I viewed several YouTube... Continue Reading →

Southern Utah Scenes

By Eilene Lyon Utah, like most western states, contains large swaths of federal land. It's safe to describe southern Utah as having nearly as much public as private land. The National Parks have become major draws to the region. These include Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, Zion, and Bryce Canyon. Then there are tiny-to-vast National Monuments:... Continue Reading →

A Metes-and-Bounds Tool

By Eilene Lyon This information will be useful for any genealogist or family historian who deals with old land records in the eastern U.S. where surveys were done using metes-and-bounds, rather than the federal land survey grid (township and range). Metes-and-bounds surveys are usually irregularly shaped and often delineated by trees, streams, and other natural... Continue Reading →

The Brimmer Conundrum

By Eilene Lyon For this story, I have to begin at the ending. The whole shebang is much more complicated—but this is bad enough! Who Are Louisa's Parents? My 2nd great-grandmother, Louisa Mary Dills, died on February 29, 1928 in Sioux City, Woodbury County, Iowa. Her death certificate gives her name as Mary Louisa Dills,... Continue Reading →

From the Vault: Buttons

By Eilene Lyon My mom, like her mother before her, did a lot of sewing early in her marriage. One of the last vestiges of those days is her “button box,” which I’ve inherited. I loved rooting around the button collection as a kid. For some reason, I still have a thing about saving extra... Continue Reading →

Swiss Accounts

By Eilene Lyon A Visit to Ancestral Homes A couple of years before I did my DNA testing, The Putterer and I went on vacation to Switzerland, Strasbourg, and western Germany. We went to the German village, Heidelsheim, that my Springer family emigrated from in the 1800s. What I did not know at the time... Continue Reading →

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