“Catskills at Sunrise”
30 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century, Apple Farming, Color Slides
in30 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century, Apple Farming, Color Slides
in29 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century, Urban Renewal
inLuckey Platt & Co department store, open for business in 1906
“LUCKEY, PLATT & CO., 332 to 344 Main Street, Poughkeepsie. Dry Goods, Carpets, Furniture, Wall Papers, etc. This business was started about the year 1845. From a modest business that required only a small store, the years have brought with them a success that has more than justified the firm in occupying the immense space they now use in carrying on their extensive trade. The present large proportions of the store have made it the largest in Poughkeepsie, in fact, by far the largest store on the Hudson river. The main building, an imposing structure of brick and terra cotta, was erected in 1901, and when completed was joined to the building already in use. Since that date by adding more stores, the firm now occupies something over 60,000 square feet of floor space. Not only is this store prominent in size, but it is equipped with the most modern fixtures, has in use three hydraulic elevators, four delivery wagons, besides outside cartage service. Storage buildings are also used for the accommodation of stock. The present title of the company has been in force since 1869. It now consists of Messrs. Edmund P. Platt and Smith L. DeGarmo, these two gentlemen being the sole proprietors of the store. There are twenty-six different departments, and about one hundred and twenty-five persons are employed.” (I&DP, p.22)
Because the Luckey Platt building was a bit further east of the largest sections of ‘blight’ and did not go out of business until 1981, the building still stands to this day, seen above in November 2011. “Numerous expansions saw the store swallow up several surrounding buildings in a drive to become the handsomest and most comprehensive department store between Albany and New York.” (DCHS p. 90) It was last expanded in 1923 by architect Edward C. Smith. This is the size and height the building still has today.
330-346 Main St, Poughkeepsie, NY today
Luckey Platt was in its day one of the largest and most popular department stores between Albany and New York City. After the 1950’s when people and industry started leaving the City of Poughkeepsie the store’s decline began. Other places to shop located closer to IBM popped up to compete with the downtown shops. Congestion from the explosion of automobiles on the scene also made it more difficult to find parking. One of the first malls to open in the area was the Poughkeepsie Plaza (Marshalls, etc) in 1958. Zimmer Brothers jewelry store which had a shop in the central business district moved just outside the city limits on Raymond Ave. and remained open but many other businesses closed for good. 41,000 people lived in the city limits in 1950. Today, there are just over 29,500.
Main Street looking West with Luckey Platt on the south side of the street
Luckey Platt’s patronage tapered off to 15 employees on the first floor of their massive building when it closed a day ahead of schedule with little fanfare on July 2nd, 1981. A few firms and individuals tried to make use of the space after Luckey Platt closed. In the late 1990’s there were many arsons in the area and the city had to raze a block of old Victorian structures just up the street. However, in 2001 the main mall, once thought of as the answer to the problem of urban decay in Poughkeepsie was ripped up and restored to a through street. I banked at a bank on the main mall before it was torn up and I can attest that in the middle of the day it seemed more like the set of a post-apocalyptic movie than a business district.
“A Queens developer (Astoria-based Alma Realty) has spent the past four years converting the massive former department store into a combination of apartments and commercial space.” (POJO). Luckey Platt closed in 1981 after 112 years in business. “The city sold the building to Alma for $1 after Poughkeepsie spent more than $1 million to stabilize the 19th-century structure, an effort to make it attractive to developers. Alma has spent more than $15 million over the past several years to refurbish it.” (POJO). In 2008 the building opened for business again, this time as a combination retail and residential space. “The resurrection of Luckey Platt has demonstrated the potential of what some might have written off as just another lost cause.” (HVR p.171).
28 Monday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century, Urban Renewal
inMain Street West from Washington St.
The pole on the right of the 1906 image advertises “Burro’s Ladies and Gents Quick Lunch Parlor, Open Day & Night, Try our Mocha-Java Coffee 5 cents, Best in the City, Steaks…” The image is too small to make out the rest, but the most expensive thing on their menu is 35 cents. In 2011, just down and across the street from Burro’s you can go to Karma Lounge and get the Karma Dog, a bacon-wrapped house-made knockwurst with tomato-onion relish and fontina cheese on a pretzel bun for $12. The site Burro’s Quick Lunch Parlor is now part arterial, part parking lot.
The plans from the 1960’s for the Rt 44/55 arterial were approved in 1974 by the federal highway administration. It is all I have ever known and cannot imagine how congested traffic must have been before it. Times change, and landscapes change as society progresses. When industry shifted outside the city limits and the workers moved with it, much of downtown Poughkeepsie was left to fester. These 1906 images and descriptions give a sense of closeness and community that seems impossible when you walk down the lonely city streets today. Well-kept and prosperous establishments like Karma Lounge, the Bardavon and others are testament to Poughkeepsie’s perseverance. I wonder what someone looking at the 2011 images will think of this city in another hundred years.
Next time, the final post in this series… Luckey Platt, a survivor of urban renewal.
23 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted 19th Century Photos, 20th Century, Urban Renewal
inToday, two views of the same Poughkeepsie block, Market Street between Main and Cannon. Click to enlarge each set.
Market Street from Main, South
You’ll note the Bardavon sign and marquis on the west side of the street in the 2011 image on the right. In the 1906 image, the theater was called the Collingwood Opera House until it became a movie theater in 1923, then renamed the Bardavon. The theater is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I don’t think I can do a better job than the Bardavon itself in describing its history, so for more information see their website – or better yet, October through June, the theater offers historic tours.
A structure which survives today (on the west side of the street a few doors up from the Bardavon with the peaked roof) still has evidence of a painted sign, clearly painted over at least once that read “Smith Brothers Restaurant”. The below entry can be found in the Illustrated and Descriptive Poughkeepsie, N.Y booklet, page 29. As it states, between the cough drop plant and the restaurant they provided almost 300 jobs for city residents which vaporized as time marched on. Another example of how different the world was at the turn of the 20th century lies in the fact that the most successful restaurant/caterer in Poughkeepsie didn’t serve a drop of alcohol.
“SMITH BROTHERS’ RESTAURANT AND SMITH BROTHERS’ COUGH DROPS – Nos. 13 and 15 Market Street. The name of Smith Brothers is well known all over the English speaking world as the manufacturers of the famous cough drops of that title. There is hardly a pharmacy or confectionery store, however small, that does not include this firm’s name in their stock in trade. The business is one of old establishment, having been founded in 1847. The cough drop business is the largest of its kind in the world. There are about two hundred persons employed in the manufacture of these drops; the capacity of the plant is between six and seven tons per day. In addition to this business, which has made their name so famous, they are better known locally by the fine restaurant they conduct and by the confectionery and bakery business, the latter being the largest and finest in the city, requiring five wagons to supply the patrons with goods; about ninety people are employed in these departments alone. The restaurant is the most modern and up to-date in the city and seats two hundred people. Also a large feature of their business is in catering, supplying parties, suppers, wedding spreads, dinners, etc., with every requisite, except in supplying or serving intoxicating drinks either in their own business or in the homes where they may be engaged to cater – a rule which has always been strictly adhered to. The kitchen is a model of perfection in cleanliness and sanitary equipment.”
Market Street from Cannon, North
There is no note or description about what’s going on in the 1906 image above, but there is a child with an American flag on the lower right. In the south view above you can also see a large American flag hanging in the middle of the Smith Brother’s Restaurant building. Chances are, the crowd is waiting for a parade. Also interesting are all the modes of transportation visible if you click to enlarge the set – from left to right are a horse and buggy, an early automobile, a trolley car and a bicycle. Structures that escaped urban renewal include the Collingwood/Bardavon and the bank building on the right. The building on the left is the 20th century expansion of the Nelson House hotel, abandoned since the 1980’s. There have been plans to demolish it and replace it with a parking lot. Sadly, the original historic hotel to the north of this was taken down in the 1960’s and the County office building (the white building with no windows on its south side) took its place.
Next time, a Thanksgiving break! Then two more posts in this series.
22 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century, Urban Renewal
inToday, two more views of downtown Poughkeepsie, NY. First, Main Street East from North Hamilton Street. I should note the modern image was taken on Veteran’s day which accounts for some of the desolation, but not all.
The November 2011 image on the left shows one building with 1871 on the very top of its facade (out of frame); the only structure that retains its character from the 1906 image on the right. Something I find interesting is the proliferation of wires in the 1906 view. Not only were there telephone/telegraph lines and electric lines running from pole to pole, you can also see the fine lines suspended between the streets which serviced the trolley.
Below, Main Street looking East from Market Street. Beyond the non-descrip modern structure on the left in the 2011 image is an empty lot. On the wall of the structure beyond that you can see the ironic mural from yesterday’s post. Click here for the link.
PAGE 33 Sweet+Carman PAGE 30 Charles Hickock Music PAGE 29 Smith Bros
Illustrated and Descriptive Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Enterprise Publishing Co, Pougkeepsie NY 1906.
21 Monday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century, Urban Renewal
inThe city of Poughkeepsie’s down-town urban area has come a long way in the last ten or twenty years after a long, hard fall into decay. After the second World War, three factors emerged that lead to this decline: industry changed and moved outside the city, people moved out into the surrounding town to be closer to work and their automobiles enabled them to travel farther to get the things they needed. Poughkeepsie’s once vibrant and bustling downtown area dried up and crumbled and by the 1960’s plans were enacted to raze or rehabilitate whole neighborhoods suffering from ‘blight’. The mural of by-gone Poughkeepsie was painted in 2002 by Franc Palaia who is pleased to see that the city is regaining some of its beauty in the the 21st century.
Plans to ‘renew’ these urban areas were implemented not just locally, but all over the country. In New York State, cities like Kingston in Ulster County and Newburgh in Orange County also had whole sections of historic buildings demolished and the most modern of dull-looking concrete blocks erected in their places.
Last year I bought a booklet at an auction that caught my eye, titled Illustrated and Descriptive Poughkeepsie, NY it was a sort of chamber of commerce booklet published in 1906. It features photos and descriptions of local businesses as well as photos of a handful of intersections. On flipping through I was struck by how busy and crowed the streets were not only with pedestrians, but chock full of prosperous business.
In the coming week, we will feature a selection of comparison photos from the 1906 booklet and photos I took on 11/11/11. The map I traced at right shows the locations from which I took the pictures. Click to enlarge all images.
First, something that hasn’t changed a bit: The Adriance Library on Market St. which has been recently renovated and restored.
And a scene that has changed entirely. Catherine Street, South from Mill St (Arterial Westbound).
Nearly all of the buildings in the earlier image are gone today. “The Mill-Catherine Street Project was instituted in 1955, in part, to increase parking…” as Poughkeepsie’s first foray into urban renewal. Though it was an expensive endeavor to raze the buildings that you see in the below image, the city employed federal grant money to get the job done. This project “displaced 20 families” among other things. As I walked up the street to Main St. from the arterial/Mill St. where I took the photo, a group of young men came across the nearly empty parking lot where I had parked my car (on the left) shouting and cursing at each other at the top of their lungs. It didn’t surprise me, and having lived in Poughkeepsie for five years I knew not to be afraid of everything, but I also carried several hundred dollars of camera equipment and smart phone and so didn’t waste time getting to the next shot.
18 Friday Nov 2011
Posted 19th Century Photos, 20th Century, Genealogy
inExcerpt from a report from the Year Book of Dutchess County Historical Society, 1918 pages 21-27. This came from the semi-annual meeting in October of that year when the society visited several sites in and around Red Hook, including the Losee/Thomas/Red Tavern house. My notes and corrections are in italics. The house is located in Upper Red Hook on Spring Lake Road, click here for google maps to see exactly where. My great-grandfather Harvey Losee was born 30 Mar 1867 in the house Upper Red Hook and died 20 Feb 1931 in the same house after a 10-year illness.
“The next stop was at the famous Red Tavern in Upper Red Hook, where the present occupant, Dr. Harvey Losee (on the left) read the following paper:
Members of the Dutchess County Historical Society: It gives me great pleasure to extend to you a hearty welcome to ye ancient village of Red Hook, at present yelept (yclept-“called”) Upper Red Hook.
When Mr. Adams called upon me not long ago, and said that this burg was upon your itinerary for this year, and asked permission to see “The Old Red Tavern” I told him it would give me the greatest pleasure; but when he also asked me to make a “speech”, I demurred. There is something so formal and stage frighty about the term “speech”, that timid souls instinctively take fright. But upon questioning him, Mr. Adams hedged, and said I would not be expected to act the part of a Cicero, but rather a cicerone in the matter of “The Old Red Tavern”, and so, as the nervous young speaker said, I kindly consented.
“The Old Red Tavern” or “The Old Brick Tavern” or “The Thomas House” was, according to some authorities, the thing that gave the village and township its name, though this point is more or less disputed; but the thing is certainly very plausible as the old red Dutch tavern stood at the angle or hook where the great thoroughfare, to Connecticut and the East, branched from the Albany Post Road. Farms came by this road in great numbers from the East, bringing their produce to be shipped by sailing craft to New Amsterdam or New York, and “The Old Red Tavern” was one of their regular ports of call, and must have undoubtedly become in time a notable public landmark, than that it should have received it from a strawberry patch.
It is not possible to fix upon even an approximate date when the house was built. The custom which was employed in the building of many of the early houses, of inserting the date in the gable, was, unfortunately not observed in this case. The late Gen. de Peyster, a member of many historical societies, and an antiquarian of some note, showed me a map (see scan at right, click to enlarge) of the date 1789, in which this house is set down and spoken of as a very old house at that time. There seems little doubt that it is well over 200 years old at the present time (1918). The house was not built of Holland brick, as some have thought, but brick made of the clay from our own Hudson. But the brick is of such adamantine hardness, that the masons, in putting in a new window, or making repairs, encountered such a difficult task that they always maintained that such brick had never been made in this country. The house was built in the simple Dutch style, with gambrel roof and dormer windows. A good many years ago, when the house was renovated, this characteristic roof was removed, and a gable added, which of course was a great architectural error. The oak beans, as in all the old houses, are large and hand-hewn; one, the great trimmer on the third floor, being 17×17. The walls of the house today stand perfectly four square, but the floors, due to the very weight of the heavy timbers, show some slight sagging. The cellars which are rather dungeon-like, are crudely hewn out of the rock, and in them during Revolutionary days, were incarcerated British prisoners, as well as an occasional continental soldier who had proved rebellious to military discipline. It was the general saying among our old inhabitants, who had it from their parents or grandparents, that Washington had stopped at the Old Tavern on one occasion, while Lafayette was said to have spent two or three days there. Gen. Gates is also reported to have stopped once with his command while Gen. Putnam maintained it as his headquarters for a brief period while in this section of the Hudson. The late William H. Teator (b. 1817) told me that his father had told him that he was at “The Old Brick Tavern” one night while a regiment of Putnam’s soldiers were quartered in the vicinity, and on that occasion a hogshead of rum was broached and finished in the same evening. There was a large block and tackle, he said, by which the casks of rum were hauled up and tiered in the back part of the room.
The first story, at the time, he thought, being practically all in one room, with a large fire-place at each end (At right, Harvey’s parents John Eckart Losee and Mary Elizabeth Knickerbocker in the living room of the house c. 1890). And for some reason, which he said he didn’t understand, it was always the custom to broach the very topmost casks first. Possible there was some system of siphonage, or gravity arrangement by which the worthy Dutch burghers sitting around the big fire-place smoking their long nines, could obtain their liquor without even the exertion of crooking their elbows! Those were certainly rum days! I found an old day book (ach, where is it now, Harvey?) amongst some rubbish, which had evidently belonged to one of our early store-keepers, as the charges were in pounds, shillings and pence, and the chirography was characteristic of that period – for it was equal almost to our finest engraving, and the ink was as bright as if written but the day before. One customer, “a thirsty soul,” whose name appeared at most regular intervals of three or four weeks, was invariable charged with five gallons of rum at the rate of two shillings and six pence. And there would occasionally be entered upon the book what would seem might have been a sop to his better half, namely the purchase of a quarter or half pound of tea. Could the shades of those worthies look forth to-day upon this now almost entirely arid country, they would certainly see a great change in this respect. And in speaking of shades, we are reminded of the ghost or spook which haunts “The Old Red Tavern.” In reading our histories and manuscripts, while collecting material for this cicerone business, I noted that the History of Dutchess County, in the matter of the hanging on the Tory at the Old Tavern, says that the Albany stage coach drove up at just the critical moment, and Judge Yates descended and ordered the victim lowered, and threatened them all with hanging if they did not desist from their purpose. But the account of it which I prefer, is the one given me by my old friend Mr. Teator, before mentioned, who had the story from his father or grandfather, together with many other interesting stories of the early peoples and customs of this village. He said, that the person in question, was not only a Tory, but a spy, and had been caught red-handed in conveying information to the British concerning the disposition and strength of Putman’s forces, and that he was hung one night quite right and proper at “The Old Brick Tavern,” and they used the very tackle which hauled up the rum and other heavy commodities, for this purpose. And people, who in later days inhabited the house, said that upon certain moonless nights, when the wind was in a certain quarter in the East, one could hear the creaking of the old tackle as it was being drawn up, together with gasps and guttural groans, as if emitted by a strangling person; while occasionally, there would be bursts of demoniacal shouts and laughter, as from a rum-crazed crowd. And this part of the story I can vouch for, as I have heard it all myself many a time – with only the slight difference, however, that while I have never noted that it occurred upon nights when the wind was in any particular quarter, yet I had noticed that it was very apt to occur upon nights after the ladies of our community had served one of their famous suppers in these rooms below.
While having nothing to do with the history of the old house, there is an incident connected with it, which I am minded to give, as it was certainly a very odd coincidence. When I began my medical studies in New York, economy and companionship made it necessary for me to select a room-mate, and after a time I selected as such from among nearly 300 class-mates, a young Hobart graduate, whose home was upon the banks of Lake Ontario, and who had never been in this part of the country before (Photo at left of the NH Galusha paddle steamer taken by Harvey on a trip most likely to visit this classmate in Rochester c.1890). I had never heard his name before, nor had he ever heard mine. And yet, strange to relate, out in his own home he had a photograph of me. His sister had been the nurse in the last sickness of a distant relative; this relative (names, Harvey!) married a lady whose ancestors had lived in our old house, and one time upon a visit to this part of the country, they had come to see it, and my father had presented them with a photograph if it in which I, with other members of the family, figured. And upon the death of Mr. Rose, this photograph with other effects, came into the possession of my room-mates’s sister. The four walls of the old house to-day stand untouched by the hand of man or Time, but in the interior alterations have been of such a nature as to leave scarcely anything to suggest its venerable age.
Of the people who lived in it, in its earlier days, when it was maintained as s hostelry and high wassail was held in its ancient hall, we have but little record; but later is was the abode of the law, and next came a good Dutch domine, (dominie) who established his parsonage here (Dominie-“Reverand” Andrew N. Kittle 1785 – 1864 and wife Eliza Gosman, on the right). And now for nearly one hundred years Medicine has had here its home. And fie upon thee! Sir Pessimist, if thou canst not see in this steady evolution, that the world doth move apace towards better things, when we progress from the rum-seller to the lawyer, to the domine, (dominie) to the doctor!
May the four walls of the old house weather the blasts of another centuries storms, and long eye that very like, the zenith of progress will be attained by its being the abode of the lady mayor, or other high official of a thoroughly evolutionized village!
Losee/Thomas house from an unpaved Spring Lake Road c.1930
17 Thursday Nov 2011
Posted 19th Century Photos, Genealogy
in“A SHOW WEEK AFTER NEXT MARCH 11TH 1876 IT WILL BE AT HARVEY LOSEES. IT WILL PERFORM WITH MAGIC LANTERN. IT WILL BE SEVEN OCLOCK AT NIGHT. IT WILL BE A GOOD SHOW. AD MISSION ONLY 2 CENTS. DO. NOT. FAIL TO ATTEND”
This invitation is from my mother’s collection of family items. Harvey Losee was my great-grandfather. He was John Losee’s father (the gentleman who took the Kodachrome images I post here, remember him?) Harvey’s house was and still is located in Upper Red Hook on Spring Lake Road, click here for google maps to see exactly where. The home was called the Thomas House and has a history of its own that will be featured in our next post.
Harvey (on the right c. 1876) was born 30 Mar 1867 in Upper Red Hook to Dr. John Eckart Losee and Mary Elizabeth Knickerbocker. He attended Rutgers (class of 1889) and like his father before him took on the profession of country doctor. Raised with a bit of country wealth, Harvey thought very highly of himself as the essay I’ll post tomorrow will probably affirm.
I don’t know if the Losees owned a magic lantern or if it was borrowed or rented for the amusement of their friends for an evening. I imagine the one used on this March evening in the countryside in Dutchess County was a small device powered by a candle rather than the larger, multiple-lensed varieties used to put on shows for large public crowds. On researching what exactly a magic lantern is I learned something new. The larger, more complex lanterns used limelight for the light source. On googling further, I learned that “before the advent of electric lighting, white stage lighting was produced by heating lime in the flame of a torch, and this light was called limelight” (source: Chemical of the Week click the link for more science). The term “in the limelight” comes from this compound being used in theaters before electric lighting. Neat! Dangerous, but neat!
The Randall-Slater Collection website has great examples of Victorian magic lantern show material featuring what you could call the forerunner of the animated .gif – multiple glass slides moved through the lantern to produce a effect of motion. Sadly, my family has neither the lantern Harvey used nor any of the slides to show you what he might have shown his friends in Upper Red Hook.
15 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century
inTags
My grampa Losee was an avid hunter and caught deer, water fowl and various varmints around Red Hook and along the Hudson River. For many years he and his friends would go up to Maine and spend a week or so hunting in the woods, often having a meal of venison while they were there, having a good time in each other’s company. These men would even bring their wives along. This was before cable TV and the internet when people’s attention spans weren’t narrowed to 60 seconds or less and they could actually spend time in a cabin in the woods with their spouses and not lose their minds with perceived boredom!
Meet Fred.
John Losee and the deer that became Fred, 1936
Fred is a taxidermy deer that John Losee hunted in 1936 and has been passed down in the family. Of interest to those who mount their kills is the December 16th, 1936 receipt for the work, seen below. The cost was only $19.00. Most full heads like Fred start at about $300.00, an increase of 1,478% over 76 years!
On the left is Fred in the 1940’s in black and white with some friends and below he’s hanging in our office in Millerton in 2011. For Christmas we let him wear a santa hat. Many customers have wondered about him. Some who hunt marvel at the low price on the receipt framed next to him. Small children often point him out and some have made us all giggle by trying to look on the opposite wall for the rest of him!
Grampa Losee took his son hunting on a few occasions but I do not know if Johnny knew how to prepare the kill after he shot it. My own brother does not know how to hunt, as he does not need to supply venison to his family and does not live in our area anymore to enjoy the sport of it. This is also true for many other young Dutchess County residents. How many young men (Grampa Losee was 29 when he bagged Fred) still hunt on a regular basis, let alone serve what they hunted to their families? Not many.
15 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted 20th Century, Color Slides
in