The Mystery Banya of Van Buskirk Gulf
The town of Newfield, just south of where I live, is known for its rolling hills, deep gullies, and rugged forest. Back when I lived there, I often rambled about the woods and back roads that thread their way through sparsely populated forests. Spencer is just south of there and is known for its many Finns who settled in the area in the early 1900s.1 Mostly, these Finns came east from Michigan in search of better farmland and a life that did not include mining. You can still make out saunas behind the old farms: small, wooden outbuildings with a tell-tale chimney. Some are still in use, others are slowly falling apart as rural structures tend to do.
At the bottom of Van Buskirk Gulf, on a stretch of seasonal road next to the creek, a curious arrangement of structures stands. One is a beautiful, old stone bridge dating from 1818—the oldest in the county—that was restored several years ago. Overlooking this is an abandoned stone house, the windows shuttered with plywood, and the insides littered with graffiti. Although it echoes the stonework of the bridge, county records show it was built in 1865.
The object of my curiosity—an old steam sauna or banya—sits across from the house and alongside the creek.
Unlike the old wooden saunas, this building was built from tile block and concrete with a beautifully plastered interior. The plaster, which is over metal lath, has a smooth eggshell finish that is only typically found in high-end homes that predate the use of drywall or plaster board. The metal lath came after the use of wood lath. My guess is the 1930s-40s. The layout has an entryway where one would undress and relax. A room to the side has a small door at its far end leading to a fire chamber below the sauna room. This room is where the firewood must have been stored, and the fire tended to. Beyond the dressing room, up three steps, is the bathing room. It is all plastered, including the bench, with an arched ceiling and soft curves. In the center, along the interior wall above the fire chamber, is the heater. It features a large chamber of rocks.
The fire passed over these rocks until they were sufficiently heated; then, once the fire died down, the iron lid was lifted and water thrown on the rocks to produce steam.
This construction is the same as modern heat-storage heaters. Remnants of a heat exchanger tell me that hot water was also available for bathing. A side door from the dressing leads directly to the creek.
Up the creek, one can see is the remains of a large dam structure. Was this a work camp of some sort? Were Finns (or Russians) employed nearby? Was it a mill site? Perhaps it was built during the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) era of the 1930s when many trails were built in nearby parks. I can imagine a group of workers enjoying the steam bath after a hard day’s work and plunging into the creek. I can also imagine fixing it up and returning it to use. If anyone has any answers to its mystery, please share them!
- Reference: Melissa Ladenheim, The Sauna in Central New York, Dewitt Historical Society of Tompkins County. Ithaca, NY 1986. ↩︎
