Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — July 1923

Miss Jane Smith of Salisbury and Miles Roberts and family of Waterbury are enjoying a ten days motor camping trip through Maine. Hilen Eggleston is presiding at the wheel during the trip.

 

Mr. Archie Lewis of Lime Rock has gone to Torrington where he has a position.

 

Connecticut State Brief: The term of Edward McDermott, in charge of the Winsted internal revenue office, expired and the office in the town hall was closed. Due to a cut in the appropriation the department decided to close the Winsted as well as fifteen others throughout the state.

 

A.L. Huggins of Canaan has applied for a permit to conduct an auto bus service between Canaan and Millerton.

 

50 years ago — July 1973

Farmers in Northwest Connecticut and nearby New York State are now in serious jeopardy, thanks to frozen milk prices, skyrocketing feed costs and increasing urbanization. Although the milk freeze is at the retail level, farmers who sell their milk wholesale are equally affected.

 

Salisbury village merchants have hired a special constable on a test basis to direct parking on Main Street on Fridays and Saturdays.

 

A century-old bell that once summoned employees to work at the Holley Manufacturing Company in Lakeville is being installed in a mini-park outside the new building of the Salisbury Bank & Trust Company. Made of solid bronze and manufactured by the Meneelys Bell Company of West Troy, N.Y., in 1867, the bell was installed atop the pocket-knife factory building about 1870 and was used to announce the start of the working day, lunch hour and quitting time.

 

Cornwall may well be one of the first towns in the state to have women as active members of the Volunteer Fire Department. Strictly a man’s world since its inception on May 25, 1931, the Cornwall Fire Department now has 55 members, and now includes six ladies. When asked about the new development, Fire Chief Richard Dakin said, “Up until 1973 the bylaws stated that the fire department would accept ‘men,’ which we changed to read ‘residents.’”

 

Fire again struck at State Rep. Gordon Vaill’s home Saturday in Goshen. Fire “completely gutted” the garage, and the house suffered water and smoke damage, according to Mrs. Vaill. This is the third fire in two years on the Vaill property.

 

The dial tone, busy tone and ringing signal were recently changed for the Canaan exchange according to an announcement made this week by Richard Shanley, district manager for the Southern New England Telephone Company.

25 years ago — July 1998

As of last Thursday, after much anticipation, the Salisbury town kettle is officially back in action. Residents will be filling up their plastic containers over this granite construction for years to come. The new kettle is the outgrowth of more than 500 hours of work by Doug Richardson, a local mason.

 

Gov. John Rowland told Senate Minority Leader M. Adela Eads of Kent this week he’d vote for her in November — if only things hadn’t changed over the years. “You are my summer senator after all,” Mr. Rowland said at Mrs. Eads’ Tuesday press conference on her plans to seek a 10th Senate term this fall. The governor was referring to his Bantam Lake summer cottage here in the 30th District. “Of course we used to be able to vote twice or more when I was growing up in Waterbury,” Rowland added, in reference to the city’s onetime notorious election practices.

 

These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.

Latest News

Millerton Police Dept. rebuilds after fire; new cruisers on the way

Millerton Police Dept. rebuilds after fire; new cruisers on the way

The borrowed Pine Plains cruiser parked on Main Street in front of the Millerton Inn during the Millerton Street Fair on Saturday, June 28.

Photo by Aly Morrissy

MILLERTON — After receiving substantial state grant funding in July 2024 and beginning to roll out new equipment that fall, the Millerton Police Department suffered a setback when the February fire at the Village Water and Highway Department building destroyed much of its newly acquired gear — including patrol vehicles outfitted with cutting-edge technology.

Thanks to full-value insurance coverage and swift support from the Town of Pine Plains — which loaned the department a vehicle — Millerton officers were able to remain active in the community. Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik said two custom-built, four-wheel-drive Ford Interceptor cruisers are now in production and are expected to arrive by the end of the summer.

Keep ReadingShow less

Uncertainty looms over Millerton community pool timeline

Uncertainty looms over Millerton community pool timeline

Groundbreaking of the new pool planned for Eddie Collins Park has been delayed after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation intervened to determine the status of wetlands in the proposed building site.

Archive photo

MILLERTON — The long-awaited groundbreaking for a new community pool at Eddie Collins Memorial Park — once expected this past April — now faces significant delays with no definitive timeline in sight, Mayor Jenn Najdek said.

The primary setback stems from a still-pending permitting process, as the village awaits final approvals from the Dutchess County Board of Health and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding septic placement and wetland buffers. A patch of wetlands on the site — roughly five feet by five feet, Najdek said — requires a protective buffer, which could range anywhere from 5 to 100 feet. That determination will dictate whether the current pool design needs to be altered or moved altogether.

Keep ReadingShow less

North East town records brought into the digital age

North East town records brought into the digital age

Chris Virtuoso reorganized parcel records in the North East Town Hall basement by parcel number during the process of scanning and digitizing the documents.

Photo by Grace DeMarco

MILLERTON — Within the walls of the two-story Victorian housing the North East Town Hall lies a room-full of town records dating back to the late 19th century. Stored in labeled cardboard boxes and protected by dehumidifiers, the records are in the process of being dated, organized, and scanned into categorized online programs.

As the Town Hall works to relocate to 5603 Route 22 at the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, the consolidation and digitalization of records, as well as the disposal of those unneeded, is a time-sensitive project. Marcy Wheatley, the Deputy Town Clerk, emphasized their current heavy focus on organizing and scanning. “Now, when we move, we can get rid of a lot,” Wheatley stated.

Keep ReadingShow less

Fun, food and facts bring crowds to downtown Millerton

Fun, food and facts bring crowds to downtown Millerton

Nora Garcia, 6, of Millerton, bottom right, gets a face painting treatment from Maddy Rowe, a Webutuck High School senior. Nora’s sister, Juliana, 8, top right, is decorated by Giana Kall, a Webutuck senior. The program was sponsored by the Webutuck PTA.

Photo by John Coston

Locals and visitors packed into downtown Millerton Saturday, June 28, for the first ever Millerton Street Fair hosted by the Millerton News, the Millerton Business Alliance and Townscape. Representatives from local nonprofits, businesses along Main Street, Bee Bee the Clown and face painters from Webutuck High School drew in crowds all afternoon.

Festivities officially opened at 10 a.m., and a steady stream of visitors soon followed. Volunteer firefighters hosted a bouncy castle, a duck pool, a “put out the fire” ring toss game, and the “touch a truck” event at the fire department’s garage.

Keep ReadingShow less