A City on Stilts

Ancient history and modern research have made us acquainted with the queer lake-dwellings of Switzerland, long since submerged, but few people know that we have something similar in this country. Away over in the extreme northeast corner of Virginia is the most curious village ever seen. It is a barren region, owned by the Franklin family, and most of the estate is under water. However, there were plenty of good oysters on it, and for fifty years every one who wanted to, helped themselves to the bivalves.

After the death of the original owner the heirs began to see that there was money in the estate, and that gave birth to Franklin City. It now contains about one hundred houses, every one set on piles, three or four feet above the ground, which is most of the time under water. One of the most curious things are the wells. Most of these were covered with water at all times, and there is not one of them that at some time during the day is not surrounded by water. It seems quite strange to be drawing pure, fresh spring water from the bottom of the salt water bay.