Bloomvale Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Bloomvale Historic District is located east of the hamlet of Salt Point
, New York, United States. It is a collection of buildings and structures around the intersection of Clinton Corners Road (Dutchess County
Route 13), state highway
NY 82
and the East Branch of Wappingers Creek. Most of it is in the Town of Pleasant Valley; the eastern portion is in the Town of Washington
.
The village (and thus the district) was named after Isaac Bloom, a landowner and politician in the area during and after the Revolutionary War who built a Federal
style
mansion and operated the first mill on the creek (and thus sometimes historically known as Bloom' s Mill or Bloomdale). By the mid-19th century it had grown into a small industrial town around what was now a cotton mill
. After a fire destroyed the mill, the community faded away in the early 20th century. A later owner was able to use the remaining facilities as a cider mill
until almost the middle of the century. In 1991 the dam, the remaining mill buildings, and some of the houses were grouped into a historic district
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
on them. The creek forms the boundary on the east and southeast.
The area is wooded, with little land cleared around the buildings and structures. There are a total of five buildings and eight structures in the district, most of which relate to the area's history as a mill site and date to the 19th century. Two of the buildings (a house and modern garage), and one of the structures (a swimming pool), are not considered to be contributing properties. The entire area is also considered a site with potential for archeological investigations, making it the 11th contributing property.
, it led to expansion of the area's population, despite frequent changes of ownership for a quarter-century, until a fire destroyed it. In the early 20th century a new owner built a cider mill
on the site although it is not known whether it was commercially successful or not.
for a nearby tract that describes it as being "west of the kill
that Isaac Filkins grist mill
stands on." Filkins had inherited the land from his father Henry, one of the Great Nine Partners
of the area's royal land grant
. 11 years earlier, in 1738; it is not known if there was a mill at that time. There is a strong possibility that there was as most large landowners had set them up on their holdings by that time, in order to encourage European settlement
.
The mill continued to be referred to as "Filkin's mill" in land records for the rest of the century. Sometime around the Revolution
, though, it became just a name, as Isaac Filkins sold the mill property to a younger man named Isaac Bloom, who may have come to Dutchess County from what is now Brooklyn. The younger man signed a 1775 deed for a nearby property as a witness, and Benson Lossing
's 1852 Pictorial History of the Revolution records the Continental Army
encamped at "Bloom's Mills." That name may be anachronistic
, but by 1781 another local deed references Bloom as a nearby landowner, and in 1785 he took out a mortgage
on 277 acres (112.1 ha) that contained the current mill property.
Bloom's 1808 obituary
records that he was in the local militia during the Revolutionary War
. After independence, he continued to devote himself to public service. He served as the first town clerk after the war, in Clinton
, of which Bloomvale was still part at that time. After service as a county judge, a title he kept for most of his life, he was elected to the New York State Assembly
and later the State Senate
. At the time of his death he had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
and was awaiting the start of his term.
Bloomvale was his country seat, and he built the large Federal style
mansion on the southwest corner of the two roads around 1801. It is angled diagonally, to face the mill and the creek. Its decoration
and size epitomize the highest of the Federal style in rural Dutchess County of that time. Today the building is the most architecturally significant in the district.
After Isaac Bloom's death, his estate
was divided among his six surviving children and the children of a seventh who had died before him. The complicated and delicate subdivision of his land this entailed required that it be surveyed
accurately, and this was done in 1809, adding considerably to the historical record. It shows that the mill property was separated from the house, and two new farms created. The deed records from this period are confusing, but show that Jonathan Bloom, the son who began living in the house after his father died, acquired four shares of the estate from his siblings. The proceeds from the subdivision were used to settle the estate's debts.
A mortgage the family took out was nevertheless allowed to default
, and in 1826 the Blooms lost the properties to a William Thurston of New York City. Four years later, in 1830, he in turn sold it to Rowland Hazard of South Kingstown, Rhode Island
. His family was already involved in the emerging textile industry
, with wool and cotton mills in South Carolina
and Pennsylvania
in addition to their native state. The Bloom property was the latest in a series of acquisitions related to that, moving up the Wappinger Creek
valley, where agricultural output was declining to the point that it could no longer sustain the original gristmill
s.
. His wife and daughters subdivided the farm property, which they continued to live on, and leased the mill to an Isaac Merritt and Charles Frost in 1845, on the condition that the two built a cotton mill
and housing at their own expense within a decade. By 1850, they had done so, since it is depicted on a contemporary county map. According to the 1850 census's
industrial schedule, the mill employed 35 and produced 30000 pounds (13,607.8 kg) of cotton yarn per year. That record also refers to its location as Bloomvale, the first recorded use of that name.
The only recorded use of "Bloomdale" is on the 1856 deed from the Hazards' sale of the property to Troy
industrialist David Thomas Vail, for $6,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). It is possible that it was a misnomer. The deed also suggests that Merritt and Frost fulfilled the terms of their lease but did not renew it, since a Charick Rosencranz is given as the mill operator. Vail's purchase may have purely speculative, or a way of buying the Hazards out, since the next year he resold the property to Rosencranz for $20,000 ($ in contemporary dollars).
The high purchase price led Rosencranz's mortgage, like the Blooms', into default. In 1862 a man named Benjamin Pond acquired the property after foreclosure
for $2,100 ($ in contemporary dollars). Rosencranz apparently remained as its manager or in some significant capacity since the 1870 census
's industrial schedule calls it "Rosencranz and Pond's Bloomvale Factory". By that time, it employed 60 and had increased production to 208000 pounds (94,347.2 kg) annually. Bloomvale was a thriving industrial village, and Pond gave $10,000 for the construction of a Dutch Reformed Church
chapel for it, an outgrowth of a Sunday school
he had started for workers' children.
Two years after the census, Pond sold the mill to a group of investors from Philadelphia for $17,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). He had to foreclose on them three years later, in 1875. The property was sold at auction for $3,916 ($ in contemporary dollars) to another Philadelphia man, Henry Carson.
This period of the mill's history is sketchy. Local lore holds that the cotton mill burned down in 1873, but it is difficult to tell from the written record, since all the property transfers from this period refer to the "Bloomvale Factory." The 1875 sale price, the first one after the date of the fire, is the lowest although it is hard to tell since the value of the property had fluctuated wildly. Carson owned the property for 22 years, for purposes unknown. By the time his heirs sold it to Susan Titus in 1897, the price had dropped to $2,500 ($ in contemporary dollars), the lowest until she sold it to Edward Swezey, an engineer from Brooklyn, for $1 ($ in contemporary dollars).
out of the ruined stones from the cotton mill, with help from reinforced concrete
and steel, in 1913. He also restored
the manager's house and one of the surviving workers' houses.
In 1919 the Bloom mansion, somewhat neglected by a succession of owners during the previous century save for the addition of a veranda and kitchen wing, received new attention. New owners, and local historians, recognized its historic importance and kept it to better standards as Dutchess County began to become a popular weekend home
site for wealthy New Yorkers. The construction of the Taconic State Parkway
, which passes nearby, over the next several decades made it easily accessible by automobile from the city and thus even more attractive.
Swezey may or may not have been successful with his cider mill, but he continued to subdivide and sell portions of the onetime Bloom property for the rest of his life. After his death in 1945, his widow sold the mill property and 50 acres (20.2 ha) to Joseph DeNatale of Yonkers
. In 1950 the house's veranda was removed; in 1989 the chapel was demolished. The present owner has combined most of the surviving mill properties into one parcel.
. In addition the entire district is considered an additional resource for what it might yield in archeological investigations.
two-story clapboard
-sided side-gable
d Federal style mansion in approximately 1801, at the height of his prosperity. Its front facade
facing northeast, allowing a view of the mill property. Exterior decoration includes a Palladian window, door sidelights and leaded glass
transom
. Windows have splayed block lintels, scored and keyed to look like masonry
. The roof line is accentuated with blocked modillions that form pediment
s on the gable ends. In the front is a paved terrace
with broad steps descending to the lawn.
Inside the house follows a central hall plan with large rooms in the front on either side and smaller ones in back that has been minimally altered. Most of the interior trim is restrained. Doors are paneled on only one side, and the cherry
stair rail has no additional finish. The most decorated piece in the house is one of the parlor fireplaces, which has carved in its mantelpiece swag
s flanking a central urn
under the shelf with garlands
hanging down the flanking pilaster
s. The firebox
complements this with a gray marble surround. Picture windows have been added to the rear of both first floor rooms.
The second floor is similarly furnished but with even more restraint. In the attic the open rafters allow a view of the craftsmanship involved in the queen post
framing
; it has been left unfinished. The basement has been renovated into additional living space.
During the 19th century, a kitchen wing was added to the south and a veranda, since removed, added to the front. Two other buildings are amid the five acres (2 ha) of lawns and landscaping on the property, a contributing wellhouse and noncontributing garage. Barns that were once on the property no longer exist; one was replaced with the garage. The swimming pool to its south is the only non-contributing structure in the district.
, its 2½-foot–thick (2.5 feet (76.2 cm)) walls built partly with stones from the ruined cotton mill, sits to the south of the creek a short distance east of Route 82. It has since been converted
into a house. A small shed behind it is the other non-contributing property in the district. To the house's northwest on either side of the creek are the remaining stone abutment
s from the 18th-century road and bridge at the site. No remnants of the sawmill/gristmill from that time have been discovered.
Further east, along the creek, a high table that creates a waterfall marks the site of the 19th-century cotton mill, with a mill pond
still behind it. Foundation
and ground floor wall sections are all that remain of the 45 by two-story structure. To the north and east are smaller remains of foundations, the sites of two workers' homes. Further east is another, smaller foundation, the remnants of an icehouse.
The only surviving workers' home is to the south of the mill site, on a rise above the road. The former mill manager's house further south is still extant. It has been altered and enlarged and is no longer considered sufficiently historic, so the district boundaries were drawn to exclude it.
Salt Point, New York
Salt Point is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It lies northeast of Poughkeepsie following New York Route 115, the Salt Point Turnpike. East of Salt Point, the Taconic State Parkway allows for easy access from many of the surrounding towns and communities with easy travel to...
, New York, United States. It is a collection of buildings and structures around the intersection of Clinton Corners Road (Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
Route 13), state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
NY 82
New York State Route 82
New York State Route 82 is a state highway in the eastern Hudson Valley of New York, United States. It begins at an intersection with NY 52 northeast of the village of Fishkill, bends eastward towards Millbrook, and then returns westward to end at a junction with U.S. Route 9,...
and the East Branch of Wappingers Creek. Most of it is in the Town of Pleasant Valley; the eastern portion is in the Town of Washington
Washington, New York
Washington is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 4,742 at the 2000 census. The town is named after George Washington, who passed through the town during the Revolution....
.
The village (and thus the district) was named after Isaac Bloom, a landowner and politician in the area during and after the Revolutionary War who built a Federal
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
mansion and operated the first mill on the creek (and thus sometimes historically known as Bloom
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
. After a fire destroyed the mill, the community faded away in the early 20th century. A later owner was able to use the remaining facilities as a cider mill
Cider mill
A Cider mill refers to the location, structure, or machinery used to crushed apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, applejack, hard cider, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. The mills used to manufacture the juice products, ferment them, store them and ship...
until almost the middle of the century. In 1991 the dam, the remaining mill buildings, and some of the houses were grouped into a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Geography
The district is an irregularly shaped 38 acres (15.4 ha) parcel extending east and west from the junction of Route 82 and Clinton Corners. Its boundaries are those of the lots with the contributing propertiesContributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
on them. The creek forms the boundary on the east and southeast.
The area is wooded, with little land cleared around the buildings and structures. There are a total of five buildings and eight structures in the district, most of which relate to the area's history as a mill site and date to the 19th century. Two of the buildings (a house and modern garage), and one of the structures (a swimming pool), are not considered to be contributing properties. The entire area is also considered a site with potential for archeological investigations, making it the 11th contributing property.
History
Originally built to attract settlement to the region, the mill property has passed through three distinct phases of use during its period of historical significance. It remained a gristmill and sawmill, supporting the area's farmers, into the mid-19th century, well after Bloom's ownership. Redeveloped as an industrial cotton millCotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
, it led to expansion of the area's population, despite frequent changes of ownership for a quarter-century, until a fire destroyed it. In the early 20th century a new owner built a cider mill
Cider mill
A Cider mill refers to the location, structure, or machinery used to crushed apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, applejack, hard cider, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. The mills used to manufacture the juice products, ferment them, store them and ship...
on the site although it is not known whether it was commercially successful or not.
1730s–1839: Gristmill and sawmill
The first record of a mill at Bloomvale is a 1749 deedDeed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
for a nearby tract that describes it as being "west of the kill
Kill (body of water)
As a body of water, a kill is a creek. The word comes from the Middle Dutch kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel." The modern Dutch term is kil....
that Isaac Filkins grist mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
stands on." Filkins had inherited the land from his father Henry, one of the Great Nine Partners
Great Nine Partners Patent
The Great Nine Partners Patent, also known as the "Lower Nine Partners Patent," was a land grant in Dutchess County, New York, USA made in 1697.-The partners:* John Aarston * William Creed* James Emott * Hendrick ten Eyck...
of the area's royal land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
. 11 years earlier, in 1738; it is not known if there was a mill at that time. There is a strong possibility that there was as most large landowners had set them up on their holdings by that time, in order to encourage European settlement
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
.
The mill continued to be referred to as "Filkin's mill" in land records for the rest of the century. Sometime around the Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, though, it became just a name, as Isaac Filkins sold the mill property to a younger man named Isaac Bloom, who may have come to Dutchess County from what is now Brooklyn. The younger man signed a 1775 deed for a nearby property as a witness, and Benson Lossing
Benson John Lossing
Benson John Lossing was a prolific and popular American historian, known best for his illustrated books on the American Revolution and American Civil War and features in Harper's Magazine. He was a charter trustee of Vassar College.-Biography:Lossing was born February 12, 1813 in Beekman, New York...
's 1852 Pictorial History of the Revolution records the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
encamped at "Bloom's Mills." That name may be anachronistic
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
, but by 1781 another local deed references Bloom as a nearby landowner, and in 1785 he took out a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
on 277 acres (112.1 ha) that contained the current mill property.
Bloom's 1808 obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
records that he was in the local militia during the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. After independence, he continued to devote himself to public service. He served as the first town clerk after the war, in Clinton
Clinton, Dutchess County, New York
Clinton is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 4,010 at the 2000 census. The town is named after George Clinton, an early governor of New York....
, of which Bloomvale was still part at that time. After service as a county judge, a title he kept for most of his life, he was elected to the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
and later the State Senate
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
. At the time of his death he had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and was awaiting the start of his term.
Bloomvale was his country seat, and he built the large Federal style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
mansion on the southwest corner of the two roads around 1801. It is angled diagonally, to face the mill and the creek. Its decoration
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
and size epitomize the highest of the Federal style in rural Dutchess County of that time. Today the building is the most architecturally significant in the district.
After Isaac Bloom's death, his estate
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
was divided among his six surviving children and the children of a seventh who had died before him. The complicated and delicate subdivision of his land this entailed required that it be surveyed
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
accurately, and this was done in 1809, adding considerably to the historical record. It shows that the mill property was separated from the house, and two new farms created. The deed records from this period are confusing, but show that Jonathan Bloom, the son who began living in the house after his father died, acquired four shares of the estate from his siblings. The proceeds from the subdivision were used to settle the estate's debts.
A mortgage the family took out was nevertheless allowed to default
Default (finance)
In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract, e.g. has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan covenant of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may occur if the debtor is either...
, and in 1826 the Blooms lost the properties to a William Thurston of New York City. Four years later, in 1830, he in turn sold it to Rowland Hazard of South Kingstown, Rhode Island
South Kingstown, Rhode Island
South Kingstown is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 30,639 at the 2010 census.South Kingstown includes the villages of Kingston, West Kingston, Wakefield, Peace Dale, Snug Harbor, Tuckertown, East Matunuck, Matunuck, Green Hill, and Perryville. Peace...
. His family was already involved in the emerging textile industry
Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution changed the nature of work and society. Opinion varies as to the exact date, but it is estimated that the First Industrial Revolution took place between 1750 and 1850, and the second phase or Second Industrial Revolution between 1860 and 1900. The three key drivers in...
, with wool and cotton mills in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in addition to their native state. The Bloom property was the latest in a series of acquisitions related to that, moving up the Wappinger Creek
Wappinger Creek
Wappinger Creek is a creek which runs from Thompson Pond to the Hudson River at New Hamburg in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is the longest creek in Dutchess County, with the largest watershed in the county.- Overview :...
valley, where agricultural output was declining to the point that it could no longer sustain the original gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
s.
1840–1875: Cotton mill
Hazard was unable to industrialize the Bloom mill, since it is still described as a sawmill and gristmill in his 1839 willWill (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
. His wife and daughters subdivided the farm property, which they continued to live on, and leased the mill to an Isaac Merritt and Charles Frost in 1845, on the condition that the two built a cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
and housing at their own expense within a decade. By 1850, they had done so, since it is depicted on a contemporary county map. According to the 1850 census's
United States Census, 1850
The United States Census of 1850 was the seventh census of the United States. Conducted by the Bureau of the Census on June 1, 1850, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876 — an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons enumerated during the 1840...
industrial schedule, the mill employed 35 and produced 30000 pounds (13,607.8 kg) of cotton yarn per year. That record also refers to its location as Bloomvale, the first recorded use of that name.
The only recorded use of "Bloomdale" is on the 1856 deed from the Hazards' sale of the property to Troy
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
industrialist David Thomas Vail, for $6,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). It is possible that it was a misnomer. The deed also suggests that Merritt and Frost fulfilled the terms of their lease but did not renew it, since a Charick Rosencranz is given as the mill operator. Vail's purchase may have purely speculative, or a way of buying the Hazards out, since the next year he resold the property to Rosencranz for $20,000 ($ in contemporary dollars).
The high purchase price led Rosencranz's mortgage, like the Blooms', into default. In 1862 a man named Benjamin Pond acquired the property after foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
for $2,100 ($ in contemporary dollars). Rosencranz apparently remained as its manager or in some significant capacity since the 1870 census
United States Census, 1870
The United State Census of 1870 was the ninth United States Census. Conducted by the Census Bureau in June 1870, the 1870 Census was the first census to provide detailed information on the black population, only years after the culmination of the Civil War when slaves were granted freedom. The...
's industrial schedule calls it "Rosencranz and Pond's Bloomvale Factory". By that time, it employed 60 and had increased production to 208000 pounds (94,347.2 kg) annually. Bloomvale was a thriving industrial village, and Pond gave $10,000 for the construction of a Dutch Reformed Church
Reformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 170,000 members, with the total declining in recent decades. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1819, it...
chapel for it, an outgrowth of a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
he had started for workers' children.
Two years after the census, Pond sold the mill to a group of investors from Philadelphia for $17,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). He had to foreclose on them three years later, in 1875. The property was sold at auction for $3,916 ($ in contemporary dollars) to another Philadelphia man, Henry Carson.
This period of the mill's history is sketchy. Local lore holds that the cotton mill burned down in 1873, but it is difficult to tell from the written record, since all the property transfers from this period refer to the "Bloomvale Factory." The 1875 sale price, the first one after the date of the fire, is the lowest although it is hard to tell since the value of the property had fluctuated wildly. Carson owned the property for 22 years, for purposes unknown. By the time his heirs sold it to Susan Titus in 1897, the price had dropped to $2,500 ($ in contemporary dollars), the lowest until she sold it to Edward Swezey, an engineer from Brooklyn, for $1 ($ in contemporary dollars).
1876–present: Cider mill
The workers had gradually moved out after the fire, and the last vestige of Bloomvale's industrial prime ended when the chapel stopped holding services in 1910. Swezey, who expanded the mill property to 500 acres (202.3 ha), built a 40 feet (12.2 m)-square cider millCider mill
A Cider mill refers to the location, structure, or machinery used to crushed apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, applejack, hard cider, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. The mills used to manufacture the juice products, ferment them, store them and ship...
out of the ruined stones from the cotton mill, with help from reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
and steel, in 1913. He also restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
the manager's house and one of the surviving workers' houses.
In 1919 the Bloom mansion, somewhat neglected by a succession of owners during the previous century save for the addition of a veranda and kitchen wing, received new attention. New owners, and local historians, recognized its historic importance and kept it to better standards as Dutchess County began to become a popular weekend home
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
site for wealthy New Yorkers. The construction of the Taconic State Parkway
Taconic State Parkway
The Taconic State Parkway , is a divided highway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest parkway in the U.S. state of New York. It follows a generally northward route midway between the Hudson River and the Connecticut and Massachusetts state lines...
, which passes nearby, over the next several decades made it easily accessible by automobile from the city and thus even more attractive.
Swezey may or may not have been successful with his cider mill, but he continued to subdivide and sell portions of the onetime Bloom property for the rest of his life. After his death in 1945, his widow sold the mill property and 50 acres (20.2 ha) to Joseph DeNatale of Yonkers
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
. In 1950 the house's veranda was removed; in 1989 the chapel was demolished. The present owner has combined most of the surviving mill properties into one parcel.
Contributing properties
There are five buildings and eight structures within the district. Of these 13 resources, 10 are considered contributing propertiesContributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
. In addition the entire district is considered an additional resource for what it might yield in archeological investigations.
Bloom House
Isaac Bloom built this five-bayBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
two-story clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
-sided side-gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d Federal style mansion in approximately 1801, at the height of his prosperity. Its front facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
facing northeast, allowing a view of the mill property. Exterior decoration includes a Palladian window, door sidelights and leaded glass
Lead glass
Lead glass is a variety of glass in which lead replaces the calcium content of a typical potash glass. Lead glass contains typically 18–40 weight% lead oxide , while modern lead crystal, historically also known as flint glass due to the original silica source, contains a minimum of 24% PbO...
transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
. Windows have splayed block lintels, scored and keyed to look like masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
. The roof line is accentuated with blocked modillions that form pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s on the gable ends. In the front is a paved terrace
Terrace (building)
A terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...
with broad steps descending to the lawn.
Inside the house follows a central hall plan with large rooms in the front on either side and smaller ones in back that has been minimally altered. Most of the interior trim is restrained. Doors are paneled on only one side, and the cherry
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
stair rail has no additional finish. The most decorated piece in the house is one of the parlor fireplaces, which has carved in its mantelpiece swag
Festoon
Festoon , a wreath or garland, and so in architecture a conventional arrangement of flowers, foliage or fruit bound together and suspended by ribbons, either from a decorated knot, or held in the mouths of lions, or suspended across the back of bulls heads as...
s flanking a central urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
under the shelf with garlands
Garland (decoration)
A garland is a decorative wreath or cord, used at festive occasions, which can be hung round a person's neck, or on inanimate objects like Christmas trees. Originally garlands were made of flowers or leaves.-Etymology:...
hanging down the flanking pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s. The firebox
Firebox (architecture)
A firebox or firepit is the part of the fireplace where fuel is combusted, in distinction to the hearth, chimney, mantel, overdoor and flue elements of the total fireplace system. The firebox normally sits on a masonry base at the floor level of the room...
complements this with a gray marble surround. Picture windows have been added to the rear of both first floor rooms.
The second floor is similarly furnished but with even more restraint. In the attic the open rafters allow a view of the craftsmanship involved in the queen post
Queen post
A queen post is a supporting post designed to span longer openings than a king post. A king post uses one central supporting post, whereas the queen post uses two.-Architecture:...
framing
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
; it has been left unfinished. The basement has been renovated into additional living space.
During the 19th century, a kitchen wing was added to the south and a veranda, since removed, added to the front. Two other buildings are amid the five acres (2 ha) of lawns and landscaping on the property, a contributing wellhouse and noncontributing garage. Barns that were once on the property no longer exist; one was replaced with the garage. The swimming pool to its south is the only non-contributing structure in the district.
Mill complex
The 1913 stone cider millCider mill
A Cider mill refers to the location, structure, or machinery used to crushed apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, applejack, hard cider, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. The mills used to manufacture the juice products, ferment them, store them and ship...
, its 2½-foot–thick (2.5 feet (76.2 cm)) walls built partly with stones from the ruined cotton mill, sits to the south of the creek a short distance east of Route 82. It has since been converted
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
into a house. A small shed behind it is the other non-contributing property in the district. To the house's northwest on either side of the creek are the remaining stone abutment
Abutment
An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...
s from the 18th-century road and bridge at the site. No remnants of the sawmill/gristmill from that time have been discovered.
Further east, along the creek, a high table that creates a waterfall marks the site of the 19th-century cotton mill, with a mill pond
Mill pond
A mill pond is any body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam across a waterway. In many places, the common proper name Mill Pond name has remained even though the mill has long since gone...
still behind it. Foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
and ground floor wall sections are all that remain of the 45 by two-story structure. To the north and east are smaller remains of foundations, the sites of two workers' homes. Further east is another, smaller foundation, the remnants of an icehouse.
The only surviving workers' home is to the south of the mill site, on a rise above the road. The former mill manager's house further south is still extant. It has been altered and enlarged and is no longer considered sufficiently historic, so the district boundaries were drawn to exclude it.