Culled by Judy Garrison From July 1911 issues of The Andes Recorder

100 Years Ago 

Week In and About ANDES

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  Events of a Week as Chronicled by the Man on the Street

 With commentary by Jim Andrews

 William Clement, a Tremperskill farmer, has purchased an automobile. [Jim Andrews: William (Billy) Clement later owned and remodeled (most notably adding identical porches to) the former Ali Inn property on Delaware Ave. and the former Bob Miller house (now Tay Home) on Main Street.]

 A few arrests of auto drivers would probably cause them to blow their horn at the Delaware avenue corner, which very few do now. [JA: My take on this would be that horses still far outnumbered autos at this time and that both the horses, their drivers/riders and pedestrians on the street would have been spooked by autos “careening” around the corner with no warning.  The newspaper editor is making another one of his editorial comments on the way he thinks things should be!]

 The only Fourth of July excitement in Andes was that had by the boys who started in for lark soon after midnight with the ringing of bells and followed this with several bonfires.  They also burned the old house known as the “Mill house” just below the village. [JA:  It was traditional here in Andes for bonfires to be lit on the Fourth and, a little surprisingly, the torching of unoccupied buildings.  I am assuming that the Mill house was connected with the old Dowie Mill (now the site of Ballantine Park).  I remember Roy Miller, my neighbor growing up, relating that when the fire bell rang on the Fourth, you could bet that one of the houses on Cottage Row had been set on fire.  Cottage Row was a series of tenant houses that began at Rima Walker’s property on Lower Main Street and extended to the brook by the tennis courts.  They were generally in deteriorated condition by this time.  Roy Miller died in 1972 at the age of 91 and had spent his entire life in Andes.]

The Delaware & Beaverkill Telephone company, formed to do business in Delaware, Sullivan and Ulster counties, has been incorporated with a capital of $5,000.  The directors are Jas. D. Murdock, Arena, Emmett Shaver, Mountain Lake, Emery Jenkins, Wm. Red…., Union Grove.  The line will pass thru Roscoe, Livingston Manor, East Branch, Downsville, Pepacton, Shavertown, Andes, Union Grove, Arena, Margaretville, Arkville, Dry Brook valley, Griffin Corners and Turnwood. [JA: I’ve never heard of the Delaware and Beaverkill Telephone Company.  I do know that there was a private phone company that issued stock and intended to operate on the Tremperskill but I believe it never materialized.  I have seen a stock certificate but don’t remember where.

OUR NEWEST SUMMER GUESTS

Arrivals at the Various Andes Resorts the past Week

DOWIE HOUSE [mentions guests] [JA: The Dowie house was a popular tourist home located next to the cemetery on what is now Forest Road.  It was built by the Dowie family of the Dowie Mill fame. It was a large Victorian structure with a cupola that offered views of the Tremperskill Valley and Cabin Hill across the valley.  The house caught fire in, I believe, 1927 or thereabouts and the top story and attic, as well as the cupola, burned off.  The house was rebuilt as a Dutch Colonial and still remains just past the cemetery.  F.F. Searing, who invested a fortune building the D & E Railroad, used to stay at the Dowie house and it was because of the beauty of the area and the pristine air that he decided to bring the railroad to Andes so that others from the city could have easier access to the healthy atmosphere afforded here in Andes!]

VALLEY VIEW FARM  (Isaac Samuel’s) [mentions guests][JA: I believe that this is the Cox farm located on the hill at the left hand side of the road as you are leaving Andes just before the Gladstone Hollow turn.  The property is currently for sale and perhaps making this a tourist house once again could be a money making proposition!]

MOUNTAIN FARM   (S. R. Seacord’s) [mentions guests]

BELIZE FARM (Cabin Hill) [mentions guests]

[Ed: we welcome information from readers about the history of any of these resorts. Interestingly, we think, all the guests mentioned are from either New Jersey, Brooklyn, or Manhattan, the same pattern we see today for summer visitors.] ~