Far From a Palace: Buckingham

After coming back from a trip to Calico with Guy and his daughter where we finally found the Ellis Adams farmhouse site, I decided to try my luck finding Buckingham, the forsaken lumber community that ended as quickly as it had started.

In 1873, the Tuckerton RR built a branch through what is now Lebanon State Forest, near Whiting and Pasadena. A man named John Buckingham built a saw mill and a number of houses in the area to market the virtually limitless quantities of cedar.

It was a hard life, but a happy one. Deciding to bring a bit of luxury to his family, he kept several cows for the virtue of having fresh milk on the table for his daughter. The cow, driven mad by the endless hordes of mosquitos from nearby swamps attacked and mauled Buckingham’s daughter. Shortly thereafter, he died and his wife moved away, and the town was left to the elements.

Today not much remains. Two houses stand near the site of the town. The trail that leads to the house abruptly stops with a stop sign, and a multitude of other signs warning the traveler to not venture further. A quick look at Terraserver tells us that there is another house next to that one.

You can see the map and the pictures of the deserted railroad bed and one house in the Buckingham Image Gallery.