The Vedder Research Library

Greenville Free Academy, pre-1906

Haight’s boarding house in the 1930’s typified the trend of many big farm houses, earning extra cash by taking in guests. Founded by the Rundle and Butler families, this general area on Rt. 26 between Newry Road and Cedar Lane was, and is, known as East Greenville or, more picturesquely, as Brandy Hill, because of the apple distillery. Behind the house stood Haight’s dance hall, a mecca of entertainment from Greenville until the 1940’s.

Long an anchor of Freehold, this structure stands on the southeast corner of Freehold’s four corners. Known as one of the inns that accommodated 19th century travelers on the Schoharie Turnpike (today’s Rt. 67), this building has served as restaurant, bar, inn, and boardinghouse over the years. Many will remember Jennie Parks, who kept a boardinghouse/inn from the 1930’s until her death in the late 1960’s.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 1994, Sunny Hill Resort has emerged as one of Greenville’s most successful resorts. This 1928 photo shows Sunny Hill’s beginnings - the main house on the right (now the new Austland unit) and the carriage house and dining hall on the left (today’s Viking unit). With the hard work of Peter and Gurine Nicholsen, the boardinghouse continually adjusted and grew to meet new demands. Son Arnold and his wife Mae Zulch oversaw Sunny Hill’s growth from the 1940’s. Since Arnold’s death in 1985, the progress of Sunny Hill is still overseen by Mae and by the third generation - Gary, Wayne, and Gail.

Fifty years ago, the ridge just west of the Lake Mills Road and Schoharie Turnpike intersection (CR41 and CR67) presented a view of what was just starting as Pine Springs, started by the Cravatas - Billy & Helen, Roger & Irene - and later sold to the Garzilli family in 1957. In the distance, the open field of Mountain View Road still have not seen the development of new houses of the 1980’s. The house visible in the distance probably is the Maplehurst Farm, another area boardinghouse, operated by Betke from the 1940’s to 1962, and then by Powazi into the 1970’s. The barn on the right was part of the John Alden farm, no structures of which exist today.

Greenville’s boarding houses typically stared when a farmer took in a few boarders for extra cash, and then gradually built on until the boarding house became main business. Three generation of the Griffin family have operated Balsam Shade: Burdett & Evangeline Griffin from 1935 until 1967; Ed and Mary Griffin from 1967-1983; and Len and Jyl (Griffin) DeGiovine from 1984-present.

In 1921, Cornelius (“Neil”) and Bertha Baumann opened Baumann’s Brookside, one of the handful of resorts that have endured the boarding house peak of the mid-1900s. Bought from Eleazer Abrams, the main house (shown above) was enlarged in 1930, with a pool and the other buildings to follow during the ensuing decades. Son Russell and wife Rose Denowski joined the business in 1945; when Rose died, Russell’s second wife Vivian Calapa Callahan joined the business in 1951. Russell and Rose’s daughter Carol and her husband Richard Schreiber entered the business in 1965, who have since been joined by their daughter Rosemary Schreiber and husband Kevin Lewis in 1994, thus making four generations of family inn-keeping tradition. Located on the corner of Red Mill Road and Johnnycake Lane, Baumann’s Brookside can entertain 150 guests

In 1924, Nicholas and Lydia Schirmer bought a farm house located on the northeast corner of today’s Newry Road and County Route 26 and rented out rooms from the overflow of Twelve Maples, the boarding house across the street. The house had been a tavern about 1840 when East Greenville was a bustling stop along the Coxsackie Turnpike. Naming their property Willow Rest Farms, the Schirmers started taking guests on their own within a few years. Over the next twenty years, an annex bungalow were added to help accommodate 65 guests, all this while six young Schirmers were growing up. Son Reinhold (Reiny) Schmermer (spelling change), who had married Jo Gawel in 1942, bought the business in 1948 and started his first year in 1949, renaming the business - Pine Lake Manor. More rooms and motel units were built, a barn made into a rec hall, and the upgrades that changed boarding houses into today’s resorts were made. Meanwhile, Reiny and Jo’s daughter Joanne married Tom Baumann in 1963 and they entered the business in 1972. The fourth generation - Amy, Kevin, and Jacquie - grew up and worked in the family business. Today, Pine Lake Manor accommodates 150-165 guests. (Twelve Maples was torn down in 1972 and is now the site of the resort office and the Baumann’s residence.)

Built in 1889 by William Vanderbilt, this South Street building remained a private residence until 1952 when Pierce and Ruth Stevens opened the Greenville Arms to the public. Eliot and Tish Dalton, owners since 1989, have renovated the Victorian style inn to become a nationally recognized retreat, especially for summer-long series of art workshops. The diagonal line across the photo is a result of a cracked glass plate negative.

Otto Birmann founded Birmann Farm in 1917 as a boarding house on today’s Route 26 about a mile east of Greenville. He had emigrated from Switzerland in 1906 to New Jersey before moving to his Greenville farmhouse. Otto’s son Walter joined the enterprise that saw a name change (Rainbow Lodge from 1937 to 1976), a major addition to the main house in 1939, the building of the casino in 1941, the creation of a nine-hole golf course in 1956-1958, and the building of motel units in 1964. In 1976, Walter’s sons Walter and Carl took control of the business with Walter managing Rainbow Golf Club (north side of the road) and Carl managing Rainbow Lodge and Restaurant (south side of the road, right inset). The concrete dog on the lawn, although relocated, has been a fixture for years.

Summer in the 1940s met hoisting horse-drawn loose hay into the hay mow on the Stanton-Brown farm on the corner of Old Plank Road and Carter Bridge Road in Norton Hill. Frank Brown, on ground, supervises: l–r George Palmer, son Lee Brown, and two boarders. Lee’s grandmother, Francis Smith Stanton (or Frankie, as she was affectionately called), started taking in boarders in 1901, naming her boarding house Mountain View Farm and then Balsam Shade Retreat. Later, the name would change to Stanton-Brown. Frankie’s children Omar Stanton and Cora Stanton (she married first Burton Winnie and then Frank Brown, and raised four sons) worked the farm and boarding house, a combination that became an economic mainstay in the area throughout the mid-20th century.

Ingalside Resort started as many area boarding houses did. In 1914, Warren and Margaret Ingalls began taking a few borders a week on the farm they had purchased the year before. After a disastrous Christmas day fire in 1924, the Ingallses rebuilt, added a ballfield in 1928-1929, indoor plumbing (1925), a pool (1933), electricity (1932, self-generated since 1922), and many building additions until a full house neared 200 guests. Son Gerald and his wife Annella assumed management in 1948, eventually selling in 1972 to Franklyn and Joyce Roth, who in turn sold to a New York investment firm in 1990.

Summertime fun meant swimming in the Basic Creek beside the Freehold Mills resort. Operated by the Andreattas, the resort is named for one of the mills that was an 1800s mainstay. Part of the creek was diverted to make a raceway, or separate waterway, to provide power to the mill. This resort was one of about 40 in the Greenville area around 1960.

A familiar sight in Greenville’s boarding house heyday, Jesse’s Elm Shade stood on the property near the intersection of Irving Road and Route 32, today the site of Greenwood Apartments. City guests would stay for a week, or weeks, at a farmhouse operated by John and Vida Lowe, which in turn was operated by Warren Jesse. The main house was torn down in the 1980s, and the guest room cabins were renovated into today’s apartments. The incline in the inset marks the spot of the main house. A nearby historic marker notes that this location was first settled by the Spees family.

One of the two GLHG’s community recognitions (see also April), Gary, Gail and Wayne Nicholsen have carried on the tradition of the parents (Arnold and Mae) and grandparents (Peter and Gurine). The first two generations have been recognized in previous calendars – September 1995 and Cover 2002. Sunny Hill Resort, on Sunny Hill Road, has evolved into one of the area’s finest resorts, drawing thousands of tourists into the area each year. However, it is the selfless commitment to community service the GLHG recognizes. Each has contributed his and her time and energy to community projects, perhaps with Gary the most recognizable (GCS School Board). Still, it is their combined generosity that has not only allowed for the community use of their grounds and buildings for area events but also has witnessed their coordination and unstinting participation in the many fundraising efforts of our town.

In March 1950, John and Isabel (Stroell) Singer purchased a house, barn, and outbuildings on Alberta Lane, about two miles northwest of Freehold. Previous owners included John Sirgant, Ivan & Maude Arnold, and Ernest & Grace Slater. The Singers renovated the main house several times, transformed the barn’s second floor into the Hayloft Nightclub, and added 21 motel units, a cottage bungalow and their own private home while they operated the Alberta Lodge Resort until 1979. The inset shows the remodeled dining room area of the early 1970s.

July 12, 1924 finds Greenville’s southwest corner firmly anchored by a neatly manicured Glen Royal Hotel, owned and operated by Helen and Harold C. Woodruff. This corner features prominently in past calendar photos. Note the planks crossing the dirt road, flower boxes, the ice cream store in back, the dance hall beyond that, and the double-level roof of the Vanderbilt Theater (today’s Cumberland Farm site) on the far right. On the far left is the hill that rises behind South Street.

Perhaps, during a break between duties, these waitresses – Margie Smith (m. Parks), Doris Lamb (m. Ormsbee), “Sis” Abrams (m. Rasmussen), and “Skip” Covenhoven (m. Johannesen) – pose in their uniforms while working at Balsam Shade in the summer of 1944. Often starting by 6 A.M., waitresses not only served three meals to the summer guests but also cleaned bathrooms and boarders’ rooms, swept sidewalks, washed windows, scraped & washed & dried dishes and silverware, and did the host of small jobs that kept them occupied until after supper was served, usually until 8 p.m.