Hometown Warwick, NY Blog: Warwick Dude Ranch, Circa 1940s

Monday, November 24, 2014

Warwick Dude Ranch, Circa 1940s

I had a little stack of these postcards that I found in the guest book of Fair Meade Farm. The main house served as a bed and breakfast from 1948-1973. Guests would sometimes visit the Dude Ranch as entertainment. The house has since been demolished. A Price Chopper is located on the site of the former farm.


This sign once welcomed tourists to Fair Meade Farm.

The main house of Fair Meade Farm, Circa 1950

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Old Photograph

Raymond Benedict, c.1942. I found this photograph sitting on some leaves one Fall day when the neighborhood kids and I were playing around Church Street some thirty years ago [more specifically 1974/1975 when I was 11/12 years old ]. We all thought that it looked like Lee Majors from The Six Million Dollar Man. My guess is that the photo came from the old VFW which was once headquartered in the quonset roofed addition to the old Warwick Hospital building on Forrester Avenue. I remember telling Joel Benedict, who was a few years older than me in school, that I had found this photograph. This is Raymond Benedict of Bellvale, NY.

Railroad Lantern

An Adams & Westlake of Chicago, IL Railroad Signaling Lantern, Adlake Model No. 250, c.1923. There is a convex stamp on top that reads "C__R CO. of NJ. It is my belief that this was from The Central Railroad of New Jersey. This lantern for a long time sat on the hearth of the living room in the main house at Fair Meade Farm on Rt.94. I know that my great grandfather, Phillip Kiel, worked for the Lehigh & Hudson Railroad. The identification of The Central Railroad of New Jersey name on this lantern is an interesting one, for it evidences not only rail travel in the area but Warwick's connection to a vast network of railroads. The Lehigh & Hudson's Warwick train stops originated in Belvidere, NJ as many know. The L&H had many stops throughout Northern NJ, and it is not unlikely that this lantern found its way to Warwick through the common practice of borrowing and using other railroads' equipment, especially when they shared track and common destinations.

I discovered these two tintypes under the floor boards in the attic of 22 High Street in Warwick around 1973 or 1974. Mingled with these were some envelopes with postmarks from the 1890s. Unfortunately I kept the stamps but discarded the envelopes. There were also brittle copies of The Warwick Dispatch from the 1890s and a copy of The New York World with the headline "The USS Maine has been sunk in Havana harbor (1898)." The exact wording escapes me. If anyone has a clue to who these tintypes are of, please contact me.

One of my most treasured photographs, and one that is in very bad condition. The team of horses is presumably Paul Miller's when he rented the Lawrence (Sanford) Farm, circa 1937. The two bare-chested fellows in the photo are unknown. If anyone could verify that there was a water tower like the one on the right at the Lawrence farm at this time and why it was used please contact me. The structure might be an elevated corn crib? As of May 28, 2009, I have upon closer examination of this photo realized it was probably taken around 1942-3 instead of 1937 because a seemingly 4-5 year old Bob Miller ( Paul Miller Jr.) is standing next to the two fellows on the left. I didn't see that before because of the poor quality of the photo. My grandfather is at the reigns of the horses that are pulling a spring harrow.

Hometown Warwick, NY Blog

Monday, November 24, 2014

Warwick Dude Ranch, Circa 1940s

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