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Where in the Hudson Valley…?

Write to us: edit@hvmag.com

(We’re serious. Where is it?) After a brief hiatus, our “Where in the Valley” feature returns — refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to stump even the sharpest historian. This month, we shoot an Orange County gunpowder mill your way; click here to try our quiz (and set your aim on our prize).

Town Talk

The photograph of Red Hook on your April cover immediately resonated with me, as the barn had a familiar look that I couldn’t place. But when I saw the complete picture, it was as if I had found an old friend. Fifty years ago, I spent the summer of my 14th year working on this farm for room and board and $100 a month. The window in the upper-right front corner was my room. It was then a dairy farm and owned by my dear friends, Dot and Charlie Hein. Dan Case’s photograph captures the farm in all its current glory and brings back a flood of wonderful memories.
Ned Howard
Poughkeepsie

You neglected to mention Schade’s Restaurant (“10 Top Towns,” April) in Highland Falls. It has been in our town since 1961 and I’ve been going there since I was young. It has the best pizza in town.
Susan Schwartz
Highland Falls

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Most of the “10 Top Towns” were well-deserving of the title, but I’m wondering how Highland Falls made the list. I hardly think it could be considered “one of the safest places in the Valley” — has anyone looked at the crime rates? Sure, Main Street is cute and has some great restaurants and shops, but try venturing a few blocks away and see if you would still consider it one of the 10 best places to live. The picture in the article was of West Point and most of the article was about West Point as well. West Point is a great, safe, beautiful place to live and work, but it’s a completely different entity from Highland Falls.
Colleen Roche
West Point

That’s Nuts!

I was surprised and amused at the short story about the squirrels by Kathleen Norton (“Squirrel Wars,” February). It’s so simple to keep the critters out of your bird feeder.
Herb I.
Via e-mail

Editor’s note: To find Herb’s solution for protecting your feeders from unwanted guests, click here.

Mystic Motel (cont’d)

In March, we asked you for information on the whereabouts of a now-defunct hotel called the Wind Mill:

I attended social functions at the Wind Mill. The owner lived on the site with several other people; she always seemed to greet guests in her dining room, which I remember having a fabulous collection of old crystal and china dishes. After the owner died, the Wind Mill closed; it was said that her daughter hoped to sell the property to Macy’s. Instead, a Dairy Queen opened on the site.
Lorraine
Via hvmag.com

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The Wind Mill was on Route 9, directly across from the present-day Hudson Plaza, south of the Poughkeepsie Plaza. We constructed a Dairy Queen on part of the parcel and stored our construction equipment in the old dance hall. I believe Eberhard Enterprises purchased the property in the mid- to late-1960s. Jocko Motors was across the highway and slightly south of the club. Please note that I haven’t been there in 30 years, so the names of the existing parcels may have changed by now.
Ralph Baldwin III
Via hvmag.com

I believe the Wind Mill was located on Route 9, between the former Stop & Shop/Bradlee’s Plaza and the former Carroll’s fast-food restaurant. In the early 1970s, I recall a vacant building at this location with an old sign with a windmill logo near Route 9. In the mid-1970s, I believe, this building was razed to construct the Rustler Steak House, which later became the Sizzler, and is now where IHOP is located.
Stephen Gill
Via e-mail

I remember as a child being fascinated by the small blue and white windmill located on the front lawn. I would date this memory to about 1945-48.
An interested reader
(who neglected to give us a name or address)

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