Building date: Ruins - destroyed by fire 8/23/1960.
Original use: Residence
Corner structures: Limestone quoins.
Mortar application and content:
Types and uses of stones:
Types and choice of windows:
Structures with similar masonry details:
Masons who worked on building:
Unique features:
Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed and the location of the no longer existing ruins is approximate; 43°00'31.22"N 76°54'56.64"W. Current owner of record, Woodard as of the 2021 Tax Roll.
Town of Junius and Seneca County Maps
"The Cobblestone Houses of Upstate New York", compiled by Dorothy Wells Pease. Research done in collaboration with Hazed B. Jeffery, supplemented with material furnished by Carl F. Schmidt, 1941. Reference the second paragraph on page 30.
Field notes made in 1964: Burned and gutted house. Some walls standing. On lane between county road 107 and Wheeler Rd. West side of 107, north of the Junius Presbyterian church which is at the corner of Rts. 106 and 107. Owned by Gordon Mills. Co-attributed likely to Robert W. Frasch and John S. Genung. Item No. 6 in the Town of Junius from a document in the Seneca County file of the Cobblestone Museum archives.
Samual Thorn House history sheet. From the personal research of cobblestone historian Karen Crandall.
Editor's Note: The ruins appear to have been razed and removed, although no information has been found relative to when the ruins disappeared. A relatively new residential structure was built in 1980 either on or close to the ruins location. An 1850 map of Town of Junius, Seneca County does not show a building in the documented area, but the 1852 and 1858 maps do, see below. If not an error of omission, logic suggests that the structure was built between 1850 and 1852; however, this is very late in the period of authentic cobblestone construction, newer and later than many of the other cobblestone structures in the area. This structure or ruins was not mentioned in any of the in-depth studies by the major researchers and authors who photographed and wrote about cobblestone buildings with the exception of that done by Robert W. Frasch, then President of the Cobblestone Society and Museum, and John S. Genung circa 1964.
 1850 Seneca County Jun-13_2 Excerpt Map.jpg ¹. No structure shown in later documented location. |  1852 Seneca County Jun-13_1 Excerpt Map.jpg ². |  1838or1858 Seneca Cty Jun-13 Excerpt Map.jpg ³ Editor's Note: The date printed on the map is 1838; however, the Library of Congress documentation states "1858?". |  Jun-13 Thorn House Ruins 1.jpg 4 July 1964 - Original print color skew could not be corrected. Converted image to black and white. |
 Jun-13 Thorn House Ruins 2.jpg 4 July 1964 |  Jun-13 Thorn House Ruins 3.jpg 4 July 1964 - Window frame removed. |
¹ 1850 Seneca County Jun-13 Excerpt Map courtesy Library of Congress.
² 1852 Seneca County Jun-13 Excerpt Map courtesy Library of Congress.
³ 1838 or 1858? Seneca County Jun-13 Excerpt Map courtesy Library of Congress.
4 Image courtesy Cobblestone Museum. Photographs by Robert Frasch
