North Salem is located in the northeast corner of Westchester County. Above: Once the Purdy homestead (1775). Now a restaurant: Purdy’s Farmer and the Fish.
“In the 1730s, European settlers began to create a self-sufficient farming community out of the forested wilderness of the Titicus River Valley. The Keelers, Purdys, Van Scoys, Wallaces and other first families built their homes on parcels of the oblong (the eastern edge of town; ownership disputed with Connecticut) and on Stephen Delancey’s share of Van Cortlandt Manor. The Oblong portion here and in Lewisboro was the original town of Salem, while the Van Cortlandt Manor section was known as Delanceytown. Eventually, Salem was divided into Upper and Lower Salem. In 1788, the Town of North Salem was incorporated to include both Delanceytown and Upper Salem.
In the 1840s, the hamlets of Purdys and Croton Falls sprang up around two stations on the new Harlem Railroad. Dairy farmers thrived, using the new iron horse to get products to market. Imaginative entrepreneurs imported exotic animals and started America’s first circuses. Others created summer camps and vacation communities around Peach Lake.
When the New York City water supply was expanded in the 1890s, new dams and reservoirs displaced hundreds of people in North Salem and surrounding towns. The entire hamlet of Purdys was moved or torn down, along with farms and residences in the Titicus Valley and parts of Croton Falls.
For more information on each of these buildings see here:
Doorway to the Purdy Homestead/Farmer and the Fish.
Delancey Hall (1765-1773).
Once the Lobdell House (c. 1848). Now “The Annexe” housing a number of town offices.
Former Lobdell House – Hickory Glen (1883). Now the home of still more town offices.
Balanced Rock (Glacial period). Is it a man-made artifact or a stunning accident of nature?
Above (and below): The Stebbins B. Quick Carriage Barn (c. 1869).
Taken with a Sony Nex 5n and Sony E 55–210 mm F4.5-6.3 OSS