I spent summer vacations there back in the 50s every trip back,is a trip back in time to wonderful memories.
My family used to spend 2 weeks every year in a summer cottage on Upper Rhoda Pond. It was very fun, and we loved the town! We always wanted to move up to Copake, and now we live here! We now live on Main Street, and we still visit the "copake house" as we called it. Copake was our summer vaca place, adn now it's our home :)
Hi Lindsay Robbins, I was glad to hear you are doing OK. Say hi to your Mom for me. Hope to see you soon. Bea
It's nice to see this Web Site, being a NY girl born and bred. Would love to see it expanded with photos of the local business' and proprietors etc. Spent a wonderful holiday season (Thanksgiving/Christmas) in Copake. Best meals in town at Dad's Diner. Great food, service, friendly and warm folks. Makes coming home for the holidays true to New England tradition.
I went to Camp Ferosdel in the 50's. I also spent weekends in Ancram most of my life until I moved to Fla in 1987. My e-mail address is TDK777@attbi.com
Hi everyone! I worked at Bronx House Emanuel back in '89. I really enjoyed it and made some good friends. Yes, I really do have some memories! Copake? Yes, nice place. I wouldn't mind visiting it once again. Stuart slpippin41@yahoo.com
My wife, Tami, and I got married in Copake on a beautiful August day in 2001. We still go out there fairly regularly to visit friends. Obviously, Copake will hold a very special place in our hearts. It's a beautiful place with great people. Judging by this guest book, it's touched a lot of lives...
My father camped in Copake as a child. He moved our family there because he felt it would be a wonderful place to raise children. It was. Sometimes ,I feel, I had a charmed child hood. How could you not, surrounded by such beauty. I often dream of our home there. Found this website today while looking to make arrangements to camp in Copake. I desperately need a walk down memory lane.
Visited this site as part of a geneology search. My great-great-great-great grandfathers Cornelius Vosburgh and Caspar Lampman (and brothers John and Frederick) all ended up in Copake between 1750-60. Caspar's son, Peter (d., 1798, had a daughter, Susan (b., 1782-83). She married Cornelius Vosburgh, Jr., (born 7/4/1779 in Copake)is my ggggrandfather and had five children, one being my gggrandfather, John Vosburgh. After Susan's death, Cornelius married Catharine Whitbeck. They had eleven children. The couple is buried in Copake, the burial ground being "on a farm". It seems that Cornelius Vosburgh Sr. and Jr. made a reproductive impression on the village, ably assisted by the Lampmans and Whitbecks.
I have worked as a counselor et al at Camp Pontiac for the past seven summers and will continue to do so. There is no better place to spend a summer than at Pontiac in West Copake, NY. Love the greenery, the lakes, the town, the surrounding areas and the people. Great for a teacher to get out of California for the summer. Nice web site, too.
Was a camper and counsellor at Camp Pontiac in the early thirties. The Hofstadters ran the camp along with Larry Liss. I was a good friend of Warren.Anybody still around from then-would love hearinf from you.
Camper and counsellor-anyone around?1930s
Nice page!
I went to Camp Ferosdel in 1968, the first year, I believe, that it was a Weight Watcher's camp. Am looking for anyone who went there at that time. It was beautiful and I will never forget it.
Very nice job on the web site. I was happy to find it had expanded so much. Loved the pictures and all the info. MoonlightsPresence@yahoo.com
To those who remember Oleana, Copake, Natchez, Ferosdel, Berkshire Pines, The Elm Tree, The Flamingo, Engelbart's, Ruby Race's Banana Cream Pie, Bash Bish, Taghanik Lake and swimming right above the damn behind the paper mill in Ancram---you are not alone. Please e-mail me to compare happy memories. ngt33@webtv.net
My father is 92. When he was 18, he was part of a five man team that made and test flown the first all medal airplane out of Copake. I have pictures of it. Were exactly would this have been? 74 years ago is a long time. Does anyone know? My father and I would love to see were it was, visit the ole site. Naugatuck Firefighter Tim Andrew 1-203-729-1243, any one is welcome to call me. (probably buildings now)
Grew up in Copake, left after joining the Navy in 1958. We had our own business "Baxter Electric Co.", stayed in the Nvu until 1988 then retired and went to work in Connecticut for the Marine Patrol. We still visit my family qute often. My wife was born and raised in Hudson. Copake is still my favorite place and the residents are the greatest. I am very fortunate in having my name engravd at the Copake Clock memorial. We shall always hold Copake ner and dear to our hearts, and still own the property. Keep up the good work. Our prayers go to Mrs. Valentino and wish her a quick and speedy recovery from her tragic accident at Copake Days.
Grew up in Long Island, spent every summer camping in Copake Falls. I remember the church and train station when they were abandoned ruins; I was surprised to see them functional last year when I visisted (my first visit in many years). I remember swimming in the ore pond and hiking to sunset rock and bash bish falls with my father, who is now deceased. I also enjoyed the penny candy at the small store near the old church. I have so many happy memories of the place that I named my e-mail account in honor of copake. I hope it never changes or becomes overdeveloped. I plan on returning soon.
Was a camper at Pontiac from '91-'97 and I loved every minute of being in West Copake. I wish the camp was still owned by the Horowitz's, I would go back and be a counselor in a heartbeat.
My family spent its summers 1955-1961 at Copake Lake. We rented a bungalow evey summer in the North Colony and my brother and I took the bus every day to Camp Copake on the "island". I still remember it clearly and wish there was still a Copake Country Club to go back to. Anyone who went to Camp Copake in those years please email me: Queechy@aol.com. "Queechy" is a small lake about 20 miles from Copake Lake, where my parents bought a summer house. To the unnamed fellow from Brooklyn, N.Y. who was a couselor at Camp Copake, e-mail me. Maybe you were my counselor.
My family spent its summers 1955-1961 at Copake Lake. We rented a bungalow evey summer in the North Colony and my brother and I took the bus every day to Camp Copake on the "island". I still remember it clearly and wish there was still a Copake Country Club to go back to. Anyone who went to Camp Copake in those years please email me: Queechy@aol.com. "Queechy" is a small lake about 20 miles from Copake Lake, where my parents bought a summer house. To the unnamed fellow from Brooklyn, N.Y. who was a couselor at Camp Copake, e-mail me. Maybe you were my counselor.
Great site! I came accross it while searching for information on Copake on google. Thanks for puting so much hard work into this site. I know how hard it can be
Anyone remember Camp Woodielake, not far from Camp Natchez. I went for 6 years & nowadays take my family back to Lake Taghkanic to enjoy Columbia County in the summer.
My daughter went to Bronx House Camp most of her teenage years. Now the camps name is called Bershire Emanual Camp. A camp by any other name is just as wonderful. Now my daugher's son is attending. My grandson writes camp is AWSOME
I went to Boy Scout Camp Waubeeka in 1966-68. I remember Bash Bish, Kelly's Ore Pit, and the "Indian Caves". Copake was always so beautiful. It was one of the best times of my life. It took a long time to drive there.I visited in 1996, with my wife who I had told all about the place. I was very surprised to see the camp is now a "family" campground, with RV's in the pine forest,(the trees were planted in rows by the CCC in 1930), and some of the cabins built back then stil in use. I think the caretaker, "Homer" would be surprised as well.
You have a section on this website that is labeled Good News. Currently on it there are two stories. One story about the bank construction. Then one about Police officer Proper. I have recently seen a story in the Independent about MSgt Sean Meenagh USAF. MSgt Meenagh had a flag flown over Afghanistan for the Town of Copake during that conflict. This flag was presented to the Town recently. I feel that this is good news. How about putting that under the good news section?
Howdy! My husband use to spend his summers in Copake on his grandparents farm--Langdonhurst Farm/Topeer-A Farm. We have some beautiful pictures and my husband has some great memories. If anyone has anything they could share with us about the area, please do! Our children would love to visit sometime! Take care! The Jensen Family, Fort Worth, TX
Friends of Susan and Ted Kanellakis.
I have so many memories of Copake. My grandparents moved to Copake in 1943. The house my mother grew up in still sits on Chrysler Pond Road. My brother lives across the street so I visit when I can. I remember quiet evenings. The summers seemed to breeze by. Many Family dinners and get togethers we have shared in Copake. The summers were not complete without skiing on the lake and eating an augie doggie. Thanks for the memories.
Thank you for re-printing the history of Copake by Elinor Mettler. However, I am sure she would not approve of the grammatical error introduced into her article. The correct possessive form of "it" is "its." Here is one sentence from the website that I have corrected: <<The town derived its (NOT "it's") name, generally supposed to be of Indian origin, from the lake.>>
I have been united (Aug.2003) to a second cousin by signing this guest book back in 2002 and find it to be fasinating that it happened and hopefully I can find more reletives for myself or help others find theirs... If amyone reading this is familiar with Mt.Washington from back in the 50's please let me know...Had family up there too as well as Copake..If anyone knew of Porters give me a line back at gram328@webtv.net
That would be Mt.Washinton,Mass I am talking about in prior note...
I grown up in Copake. But, now I rarely come back, as my father was with Copake veterinarian Office. It nice to see that Copake has a web site!
Left Copake in 1973 to go to graduate school at U of Ga. Grew up there from age 5, left age 23. Went to Roe Jan, kindergarten thru 12th grade, graduating 1966 to go to Syracuse U. Best friends were Grant & Lowell Smith (their Dad was the town dentist), Steven Kaufman (his dad was co-owner with Max Fass of the pharmacy) and Wendell Scism of Copake Falls, whose dad worked the paper mill in Ancram. Dated well known town beauties of Lorinda Ackley (father was CEO of the phone company)and Jeanne Waldorf (her father owned a large farm in Hillsdale) My father and mother owned and ran the General Store, Arthur and Hilkka Long (the store previously was owned by the Wilkinsons). I ran the roads on my bicycle from Copake to Copake Falls to swim the Ore Pit; to Ancram to bowl at the 6 lane alley; to Hilldale to play tennis at the school courts; Memorial Days and Fourth of July parades were awesome; knew your councilman and wife real well too; loved train trips on the Harlem Valley line from Copake Falls to NYC for shopping trips with Mom and Ruth Fuller; had wonderful childhood memories swimming and fishing the creek that ran from Boston Corners to the Copake flats; lived in the Weed Mines in an old hotel, next to Mr. Plummers creekside home; ate rhubarb, watched barn swallows do their thing, smelled lilacs, hunted woodchucks, and had holleyhocks outside our many windows.... Coming home 8-27 to 8-30 to bury my folks at the Church cemetery; will do Undermountain Rd, Weed Mines, Alander, Mt. Everett Reservation...
I was born in Hudson but moved to Brooklyn for 2 years. In 1948 we moved back to our cottage in Copake. Afterwords lived in Greenport (Columbia County) but spendt many wonderful summers at the "cottage." Great place! Allan Eisenberg Hudson High Class of 1960 Say hello, please.
What a informative site and very well done. My Irish family genealogy research has brought me to Copake, NY. searching for any information on the Morrison's. Edward and Jane Mary (Burns)resided in Copake for abt. 10 years (1862-1971+). The previous 10 years they resided in Salisbury, CT. Their children who were born in CT are: Jane Mary, Michael B; John H; Edward, Christopher, Mary Jane. Their children born in Copake are: Joseph Francis, William D; James A. and Richard T. Anyone with additional information or leads please contact me. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Spent a few summers during early 70s on the Taconic Shores accross from Beach 2. I was able to get inside the then vacant mansion on the hill over looking the lake. Meet the Decker family and others that were great kids my age early teens. My uncle live there for at least 25 years. Great memories and way of life with beautiful mountians and green. I remember the movie thearter before it burnt down and the ice cream place accross from it. In case this has anyone thinking - I was the short tan kid. :-). I hope to get up there and buy history back one day, as my uncle moved from there some 10 years and has since died. We use to have family gatherings at his taconic shore house and the neighbors would laugh at the antics. Great place, people, memories. Enjoy.
I HAVE MANY GREAT MEMORIES OF COPAKE NEW YORK AND WAS OVERJOYED TO DISCOVER THIS PUBLIC SITE. I WENT TO CAMP WOODIELAKE FOR MANY YEARS......MY FIRST BEING IN 1948.
I love your town. I would like to get some info on Camphill Village, I think it is near Copake. I have tried to find a web sight but have had no luck. Please email me if anyone has information you can give me. Thanks, David
I spent several summers at camp woodielake from 1948 to 1951 and would like to hear from fellow campers and staff....
This is the opening of my book, Dreams on Fire I held Copake, New York very dear. I loved the farm I ran in this friendly little town. The farm was in the Family for over a hundred years. I was proud that in a special ceremony in Syracuse it was designated one of New York’s Century Farms. My son wanted to take over the farm and I never doubted I would live my entire life on this farm and with the people of Copake I knew so well and trusted. That was before the trouble began. I loved to go up on the big hill behind my barn to check on how the crops were growing just as evening was approaching. The soil on this part of the farm is a deep limestone loam that grew some of the best crops in the County. As I looked east over the valley at the rugged Taconic Hills the sun was at my back and all the colors were at their richest On my left was the 1854 Methodist Church with its‘ Greek-revival Columns gleaming in the sunlight. It is part of the scattering of houses and businesses that make up the hamlet of Copake. Before me was the valley with fields of golden grain and the lush corn soaking up the sunlight; On the other side of the valley was the brilliant red of Pearson’s barn and the brightly illuminated mountains. A little to the north the Bash Bish gorge cut deep into the mountains. I could never view all this beauty without thinking of the song all children know and love, America The Beautiful. I first learned that song in the little two-room school on the edge of the hamlet where I developed my love for this country. As I sit here at A.D.s’ old roll up desk in my rented apartment in the Cincinnati my thoughts go back to the 1940s’ and the ’50s’. Copake was pleasant but it was exciting for me because things were changing.. World War II came to an end and optimism was replacing the pessimism left over from the depression and war rationing. The small two-story watchtower that the community manned 24 hours a day during the war now sat empty. It wouldn’t see active duty until the Korean War when patriotic citizens would gather again at the Grange Hall and schedule volunteers to watch 24 hours a day for airplanes an enemy might unleash down the valley on New York City. Rout 22 from New York threaded its way up the Harlem Valley from Millerton. Years of neglect, caused first by the depression then the war, left the road rough and hard to travel. Just north of Millerton the low but rugged Taconic Hills marked New York’s border with first Connecticut and then Massachusetts on the East. On the west the steep hills gave way to rolling hills and farmland of Columbia County. A few miles north of Millerton Route 22 turned abruptly east to dip down into Boston Corners before it headed north again to where the valley opened up past more farms. At Dean’s flats it turned west going past Borden’s milk plant and Bristol’s feed store, the Copake Theater and the Chrysler Plymouth dealership at Copake Garage to the business center. This was my little world. Rout 22 carried a stream of travelers to the center of town back than where the dining room at the Holsapple House was always busy. From there 22 went up Main Street. Just past Dean’s dairy barn where the two-bay firehouse with it’s meeting room upstairs. Up the street from there Fred Link was building his frozen food locker and started selling appliances. After going around the sharp corner at Folger’s you came to the old garage where Henry Folger was starting his auction business. Across from there Pete Miles was starting his lumber business in Wally Funk’s old cow barn. From there 22 made it’s way to the busy hamlet of Copake Falls on the edge of the State Park. There you might meet Foster Ham with his taxi there to meet one of the five express trains to New York on the Harlem Division of the New York Central. Foster was always busy in the summer. A new road would by-pass, Boston Corners, Copake and Copake Falls ten years later and eventually the trains would stop. Copake was just a cluster of homes and small business one hundred miles north of New York City back then. Four roads meet at the center in haphazard fashion just west of the Massachusetts State line. Our main dairy barn was at the west-end of Church Street just beyond the sidewalk. A second barn, the McGee barn, was near the end of Church Street. Back when all the work had to be done with horses AD, my grandfather, kept 14 teams of horses in the McGee Barn. We had a smaller dairy herd there now. When I walked to school I walked past our main barn to the gravel Center Hill Road. After I turned right it was just a short distance up to Church Street where the sidewalk and the cement road started. The black top county road came around a sharp corner from West Copake and Ancram and met Church Street there. The sidewalk started at John Lind’s house across from the driveway to AD’s big house. AD was my grandfather, but we always called him AD like everyone else in town. He was tall thin dignified man with an easy and generous outgoing manor. He carried a cane, had a big cigar and a stately manor that commanded respect. On the north side the sidewalk I only went past 8 houses before it got to the cemetery and the Methodist Church near the Hedges store and center of town. On the south side stood our McGee Barn and Grandma Carry’s house with her small orchard that ended just across from the cemetery. Grandma Carry, AD’s mother, was a widowed young when her storekeeper husband, Grant, died in 1899. Aunt Millie Link lived with her and was her housekeeper. I always looked forward to stopping in on Sunday after Sunday School and getting one of Aunt Millie's molasses cookies. Aunt Millie really wasn’t an aunt, but she held that title because of her position in the household. Somewhere way back in the family the Dineharts and the Links were related but I wasn’t sure just how. Aunt Millie was a small hard working woman bent with age. She would take us back to the old fashion kitchen that hadn’t changed much from 1920. There she let us climb two steps to a cool pantry and lift a heave plate from a stoneware crock and let us take a moist molasses cookie. Just past Grandma Carry’s orchard was Doctor Bowerhan’s house, the funeral parlor and Buel Peck’s house. Charlie Peck lived over the funeral parlor and his other son, Brad, lived across the street to the west. Brad was just opening his insurance business next to Frank’s Garage at the center of town back then. I crossed the street to the Holsapple House and followed the sidewalk down the dirt road past the Grange Hall to the two-room grade school. The older grades were at Roe Jan Central School six miles north on route 22 in Hillsdale. Back then the Grange Hall and the Copake Theater were centers of town activity. The Theater was on route 22 just south of Bash Bish Brook and town. In these days before television it was the only theater for fifteen miles people came from miles around for entertainment. For me it was a treat to see the other kids and see the neighbors. Jesse and Rose Head might be there. Jesse was a big man that chewed tobacco and liked kids. He grew up on his father’s farm that was down the dirt road past the school. He would say just a minute, I got a knife here, how about a swap. He would thrust one a hand in a pocket and draw out a closed fist. Then you would be faced with the dilemma of if you wanted to get rid of that old knife of yours with the bent blade or not. His knife might have a real bone handle and a steel blade, or maybe not. After you made the swap you often wondered how he could call what you got a real knife. I kept his old knife till we met again hoping that he forgot what I had. I soon learned to keep two knives in my pocket. One to use, and one to swap. Jess might tell you a great story of his childhood like when he rode with my Grandfather Fischer. Carl Fischer was great fun for the kids but he died in the flu epidemic of 1919. You were likely to run into Jesse at the Grange or waiting for the second show to start. The theater was a community event where everyone visited. Eddy Mcintire and Ina Ferguson, Eddy’s sister ran the Copake Theater. Years before the Mcintire’s father, Steven, ran a store across from my Great grandfather’s store at the center of the village. Then they started showing movies in the Grange Hall back in the 20’s. That was the days of silent movies and Eddy played the piano. He was good at it too. He enjoyed improvising new music for each seine and seemed to enjoy life. When the 30’s came along with talking movie demand was enough that they built the theater and closed the store. I remember the old Mcintire store as an empty but interesting building at the wide swing in route 22. In its day it was the busiest store in the village. Across the front was an open porch. One time I ventured across the street to peer in the dusty and dirty window. All along both walls were long low counters manned by clerks. AD enjoyed telling a story about Fred Watson. Fred would come in and sit on the counter. That annoyed Steven. He asked Fred not to sit on the counter several times but it didn’t seem to help. The counter was of course worn by time and had a crack in it. One afternoon when business was slow Steven took a hat pin, some sticks and a rubber band and rigged it up so when he pulled a string, the stick would snap the pin up through the crack in the counter. When Fred came in he sat directly over the crack. Steven pulled the string and the pin shot up through the crack perfectly. Fred reacted by sliding off the counter. That was a bad move, because the pin did more damage to his more than ample rear-end. The entire town became aware of the incident and the Fred was reminded of it for years. Needless to say, no one sat on the counter after that. The Mcintire’s were one of the leading families of course and Eddy and Ina had a brother, Steven that I never knew. He was killed in Europe during the war. One of the big events I remember just after the war was when his body was brought back for burial. It was one of those sad occasions when everyone showed up to pay respect. Steven’s loss was not just a tragedy for the family but the entire community. Had he returned the store might have gone on. I remember the big military funeral with the flag draped coffin and the solders firing a solute with a bugle sounding off in the background. A bit later the Mcintire family gave a clock to the town and it was dedicated not just to Steven but to all the youth that died in the wars. It was given to the town to replace the flagpole and a small painted wood monument listing the names of those that fought in past wars. The base for the flag was a large cement foundation that had to be dug out with a bulldozer. As a kid I remember following along behind with some other kids and watching it being pushed down the dirt road past the Grange Hall, the school and across our field to Bash Bish brook. Back in the ‘50’s the Grange Hall was the center of the community. That is where everyone came at election time to vote, eat at he supper the Grange put on and visit with people like Jesse Head and Edie Mcintire. That is where the Boy Scouts met and the Church had their dinners. Back then I already had a list of chores to do. I was responsible for feeding the pigs and I had chickens to take care of. I also helped with the sheep. Lamming time was a lot of fun and occasionally there was an orphan lamb to bottle-feed. It was always a treat to go to something at the Grange. I was a simple way of living where you got to know your neighbors. Copake eventually got the two banks and people came there to do their banking and trade. The banks were quite new and weren’t there till I was nearly grown. Back in the earlier days the I. L. Hedges store was where we bought most of our groceries. By the time I came along Irving was gone, but Bessy still sat behind the counter. The son, Clayton ran the plumbing business but it was his wife, Hazel that really ran the store. Back then it was where everyone went to cash checks. If it were a large amount of money hazel would look around to see who was there and then go to the draw where the dry beans were kept to get out the money. When we needed vinegar we always took our own jug. The jug was put on a small hand pump and Hazel or one of her two helpers would turn the crank and fill the jug from a barrel in the basement. The store was the base for the plumbing business. Clayton’s pluming business was jammed into desk in a small room just off the main room. The truck and most of the big supplies were in some of the out buildings. I remember Dad explaining things after I accompanied him to the back room to visit with Clayton after supper one night. He had some work that had to get done and the best way to get Clayton to do it was if you stopped in and visited a while before you asked him. If he didn’t, it might take months of calling to get the job done. It was just the way business got done in these small towns. There was also the larger General Store on the corner that my great grandfather built not long before he died. Ernest Fuller ran it. He didn’t do as much business as Hedges but then Arthur Long bought it. Arthur was a hardworking energetic Irishman that learned the trade as an apprentice in Ireland as a boy. He always asked if you forgot something like butter when he checked you out. I sold my eggs there and used the money to buy feed at Bristol’s. Before Ernest the store was known as Wilkies store and was where the Post Office was before it moved next door to the old tin shop. According to AD, when my great grandfather, Grant, ran it he had a man named Coxie helping him. Coxie was taken from the name Wilcoxs. As the story goes an old man by the name of Gibbie traded in the store. He stuttered a lot and you had to be patient to understand him. One day he said, “T-t- tell me Grantie w-w-what s-s-should I do for my hemorrhoids? Grantie, well liked and always ready for a good time answered without hesitation. Put a little turpentine on them Gibbie. A week went by before Gibbie came in and my Great Grandfather asked him how his hemorrhoids were. He replied, “W-W-Well Grantie, the t-t-treatment w-w-worked; b-b-but I tell you I-I-It t-takes a powerful strong touch hole to stand it. My great grandfather built the General stores in 1890 after his old store burned. Before that Grant ran a small store across the square and his business outgrew the building. He moved his goods over to the new building that served as the Methodist church before the new Church was built back in 1854. The building was moved from Main Street about twenty years before or so. His store wasn’t the only business in the building at that time. F. W. Mitchell ran a barbershop on the top floor and Frank Pulver ran a solon in the basement. It was April 25, 1889. I don’t know who discovered the fire near the upstairs wood stove, but at about 6 in the morning they ran to the church went upstairs and rang the bell to sound the alarm. The street filled with people. Because Copake was experiencing one of it’s east winds there was no hope of saving the building. Copake is just west of the Taconic Hills. Most of the times the mountains offer a pleasant view to the east but the mountain are just tall enough to effect the faster moving upper winds. When a storm comes from the east the upper winds swoops down over the mountains with hurricane force. It is not uncommon for them to be over a hundred miles per hour. Just a mile or so to the west it can be calm and all you hear is the roar of the wind in the mountain. That morning, every men, women and child came out with ladders and blanket and pales to carry water. There was a hand pump and a horse watering troth near the store. While some manned the pumps other carried water. They throw blankets in the watering troth then strung them on ladders resting against the walls of the tin shop and Ward Van DeBogart’s barn. Others put out small fires as they started while others tried to rescue what goods they could. The fire started near the wood stove on the top floor so Frank Pulver had all his goods saved. .His business was in the basement. F. W. Mitchell lost everything of course and he moved to Millerton the next day. My great grandfather lost almost everything from the store, but rebuilt shortly after. The drugstore, the two hotels, Hank’s and the Holsapple House, were near the center of town. Bristol’s lumberyard handled feed and fuel oil and was near the Borden’s milk plant south of town. Years earlier it was on the Poughkeepsie and Eastern Rail Road and was where the local milk was bottled and started its journey to New York City. Farmers drove in with their pickup trucks and delivered the milk, then picked up feed at Bristol’s. The feed was stored upstairs and when someone ordered feed a person upstairs would send the bags of feed down a chute to the platform and the man at the bottom loaded the truck. The farmer pulled over to the side, parked and went to pay and pick up other supplies. They also exchanged news and visited while he waited in line. The Copake Telephone Company had their office at the center of town and was started about 1910. John D Ackley came to town as a young man hired to run the company and then gradually bought up all the shares. The Peck families owned the insurance company next to Frank’s Garage and the funeral parlor just down Church Street a few houses. Charlie started both businesses and turned them over to his two sons, Brad and Bule. Buel was the taller of the two and he ran the funeral parlor. Both sons had families now and lived on Church Street not far from the businesses. The Folgers Auction, the only car dealership and the garages helped fill up the center of town. Copake Garage had the dealership for Chrysler and Plymouth automobiles and was a modern well kept building. Harvey Roberts started the business half way up Main Street and did a brisk enough business to let him build the new garage. Harvey was another person that stirred my interest because he didn’t have a thumb on his left hand. He was chopping kindling wood one day and cut it off with the ax. Everyone said he had it pickled and kept it but I never saw anyone that saw it. The main stay of his business was Elmer Grau. Elmer was the main mechanic and everyone knew if anything was wrong with the car you had to talk to Elmer. Elmer was quite old when I knew him and was completely bald. Harvey two sons were in the business too and they did a good gas business before the new route 22 bypass was built. The main place to buy gas for the locals though was Franks’. Frank Stang lost a leg when he was a boy and started selling gas next to the Holsapple House back in the 20’s. Frank was one of those good-natured men that everyone liked. He always wore a smile and chewed on a cigar and walked stiff legged on his wooden leg. He loved the New York Giants and all the kids loved to talk base ball with him, Frank’s other big love was the Fire Company and that made him special in the community. Before that the building was the livery for the Hotel. It was where people gathered to exchange the news and show off their big buck during hunting season. The town had its Methodist Church, its school and the Grange Hall too. One of the reasons it was the place where things happened was that I rarely got a chance to go anywhere else. That didn’t matter though because I knew everyone, or who they were, for miles around. It was also a place of great family presents.
i have lived every summer in the copake area, (ancram) all of my life. our house was in what was called american better camping association. i was a camper at pontiac and worked there when i was old enough. our house bordered natchez. marc sold the camp a few years ago. the state owns it now and it is a camp for handicapped adults. we used to ride at weaver's, went to square dances and dated boys from the area. (Does anyone know Mike lauro?) we swim in lower rhoda and when i think of paradise...it is there. bobby
hey, I went to Woodielake camp in the 60's for about 6 years!...
Does anyone remember Mrs. Moffat the owner of Woodielake camp?
I USE TO LIVE IN COPAKE IN BROWN RD. NOW I LIVE IN HOUSTON TX. IM GOING TO COPAKE THIS DECEMBER THE 25TH BECAUSE I LOVE THE WINTER AND I LOVE THE SNOW COPAKE IS JUST A BEATUFIL TOWN .