The lovely neighbors across the street from Glenarm Hall, Mark and Lucy, loaned me a wonderful publication highlighting the history of Glenarm which used to be called 'Hardscrabble', a term once used to describe a meagre, impoverished life of hard labour under difficult conditions and very few conveniences. Hardscrabble was at one time barren, not on a river nor a railway route, so it was indeed a hardscrabble lifestyle.
When the post office was to establish service in Hardscrabble, a man by the name of William Thornbury who owned much of the surrounding land who came from Glenarm, Ireland, decided to rename the town Glenarm.
It was of great interest to see that this was once a very close and busy community with many social functions going on regularly.
They had an annual picnic which was held on occasion at the church and one summer, I believe in 1926, there were 5000 in attendance!!
Even though I didn'tgrow up here, I felt such nostalgia looking through the many interesting stories and photos included in this publication by Isabel Wessel.
It makes me feel even more intent on breathing new life into this very dear community.
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