Tag Archives: NY

Sleight Farm Property, LaGrange, NY

This abandoned farm property is located at 619 Noxon Road in LaGrange.  These buildings are part of a >100 acre farm parcel.  I photographed the house, carriage house, and silo foundation, based on the sketch in the building inventory (mentioned below).  As of 2017 the property may have been sold (it was for sale) because some construction is occurring on the property – namely, the carriage house photographed here has been demolished.

According to the Historic Resource Survey from 1986, the structures on the property date to late 1700s, early 1800s, and middle 1800s, with some outbuilding from the middle-to-late 1800s and early 1900s.

At the October 23, 2013 meeting of the Town of LaGrange Board, a Forest Stewardship Management Plan was submitted to allow for selective cutting of about two acres of trees outside of the restricted areas of the Conservation Easement on the property.  The application was to “cut firewood on the property”, “maintain field edges and fields for crop production”, “keep current farm trails open for access”, “transplant and/or transfer planted conifers”, and “crop tree management for possible future sawtimber production”.  The property was identified as Sleight Farm and owned by the Sleight family.

At the August 18, 2016 meeting of the Town of LaGrange Board, there was an application discussed for a special use permit of the property as the Gray (Vale?) Fox Distillery.  The proposal was to construct the distillery building in the “upper part” of the property.

Location:  Google Maps (41.650374, -73.827479)

Sanita Hills, Pawling, NY

Sanita Hills was originally made for NYC sanitation workers (hence the name) by pulling old NYC rail cars, nicknamed Pullmanettes, into the woods and converting them into cabins. The cars came from the old Second and Third Avenue El elevated railway lines in NYC. Later the camp was taken over by the Boy Scouts before eventually being abandoned. At some point all of the cars were cut up and removed, except one.  These are photos of what remains of the camp at Whaley Lake.

More information:  Abandoned Hudson Valley

Locations:
Remaining car – Google Maps (41.549786, -73.655748)
Some of the camp – Google Maps (41.556562, -73.653208)

Philipsburg Manor, Sleepy Hollow, NY

From their website, “Philipsburg Manor was a thriving farming, milling, and trading center owned by the Philipses, a family of Anglo-Dutch merchants. They rented land to tenant farmers of diverse European backgrounds and relied on a community of 23 enslaved Africans to operate the complex.”

The site includes a 300-year-old manor house, new world Dutch barn, and working gristmill.  There are also several hands-on 18th century activities.

More information: Philipsburg Manor

Location: Google Maps (41.088904, -73.863626)

Dam, LaGrange, NY

This dam is located on Old Manchester Road/Titusville Road in the Town of LaGrange, NY, in an area also known as “Manchester”.  Maps from the 1800s show a mill located on a pond in this location.  According to historic aerial photos, the pond was drained to be back to just a creek in the 1980s.

More information:  Historic aerial photos

Location: Google Maps (41.683184, -73.866793)

Van Kleek-Westervelt Cemetery, LaGrange, NY

This old cemetery is located on Titusville Road in LaGrange, NY near an old farm house; the farm is called the Cornell Farm.  The cemetery may be an old family cemetery for the family(ies) that lived on the farm.  The property card for the parcel says it is a private cemetery of the name Van Kleek-Westervelt; both of these family names are well known in the area.

The 1980s Dutchess County Historic Resource Survey indicates the Cornell Farm was indicated on historic maps from 1867 and 1876 to be owned by someone with the last name Cornell.  This survey also identifies the cemetery as the Westervelt Cemetery.

More information:  Historic Resource Survey map

Location:  Google Maps (41.672450, -73.871750)

Off Track Betting, Poughkeepsie, NY

This building is located at 611 Dutchess Turnpike (Route 44), Poughkeepsie, NY.  This Off Track Betting site was vacant for quite some time.  In 2015 the building was being renovated to become the home of Darkside Records; those photos are from June and October.  The murals that decorated the outside of the building were covered up during the renovation.

Location:  Google Maps (41.696520, -73.892017)

Fort Herkimer Church and Cemetery, Herkimer, NY

This church and cemetery are located along the Mohawk River.  The National Register of Historic Places nomination form states the site is also known as the Reformer Protestant Dutch Church of German Flatts.  According to this website, the church was built in 1753 from limestone mined from the Mohawk River and it is the oldest surviving building in Herkimer County.  It is also the only remaining structure of Fort Herkimer, a Revolutionary War fort.

More information:  National Register form; Some history; Church website

Location: Google Maps (43.018117, -74.954142)

Erie Canal Lock 18, Herkimer, NY

These are photos of Lock 18 along the Erie Canal.  According to the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) report for the site, the lock was built around 1909 and the powerhouse around 1915.  The lock is still operational.

Location: Google Maps (43.01620369, -74.917545182)

More information: Library of Congress website (Historic American Engineering Record)