Old Cellar Hole?

A couple weeks ago I was walking my neighbor’s dog and happened to glance into the woods and saw what looked like a hole. I went in to investigate and found stone walls in the ground. It looks to me like an old cellar hole.

walls of stone
What is This?

I have no idea what this is, but looks like maybe a structure of some kind was once here and this is what’s left of the basement. Of course the locals would most likely be able to tell me about the place, but I don’t know too many people here so I’ll just guess for now.
I went back with my camera and got a few photos of the area. I noticed all these smaller rocks together in one area down the road from the cellar hole.
pile of rocks
Strange pile of rocks

New Hampshire is known as the “Granite State” and there is no shortage of rocks here, but all these smaller ones together in a pile is odd.
Rusted Thing

I found this rusted thing … yes, that is my scientific name for it… in the cellar hole.
leaning trees
Forever Leaning Thanks to the Ice Storm

As I walked home on the 4-wheeler path, I took some pictures of the trees that still show signs of damage from our December 2008 ice storm.
These small trees faired pretty well considering the huge ones that toppled over or broke from the weight of the ice. It’s really amazing how powerful some freezing rain can be.