Historical House Will Be Featured on HGTV
Treasures and artifacts found in the 1825 house’s crawlspace included an “Old English Curve Cut Pipe Tobacco” can, an 1885 glass bottle, horseshoes, canned meats, canned spices, powders, sassafras, and 19th century clear glass prescription bottles.
Carmany created a glass case that hangs on the wall with small items recovered from the crawlspace including nails of various sizes from very small to four inches, a paint container top, a pen knife, a door jam for 19th century doorknobs, and broken China, which signified the Asian influence in the Connecticut River Valley in the 1800’s.
“The crawlspace was sealed off with rocks,” Ruiz said, adding he believes the apartment-looking room above formerly had trap doors where occupants would dispose of things they no longer wanted.
Ruiz said he took out fifteen large trash bags of various items with 10 percent of it being salvageable while the other 90 percent was in disrepair, rusting, or was broken.
Dr. Slyvester W. Turner and his wife, Gertude Selden Turner, bought the house in 1850 and it has been in the family until the 1950’s.
The HGTV film crew taped the segment in the Turner House on January 11, 2006 which was attended by Curator of the Chester Historical Society Feldmann Bush, Chester Town Historian Rob Miceli, Chester First Selectman Tom Marsh, and President of the Chester Historical Society, Donna Carlson.
The segment is expected to be between seven and fifteen minutes long and will air on HGTV’s hit show “If These Walls Could Talk…”
The episode entitled “Historical Surprises” will have three other segments about historical treasures found in Wallingford, CT, Fort Hunter, N.Y., and Humboldt, Iowa.
According to the HGTV website, the episode will air on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 11 p.m., Monday, Feb. 12 at 3 a.m., and Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
HGTV is on Channel 48 on Comcast Communications, Channel 112 on DISH Network, Channel 229 on DirectTV.
