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The Windham House constructed in 1805 began life as a Drovers Tavern on the Catskill Turnpike. As far West as Ithaca NY. you will see historic markers mentioning the Catskill Turnpike.
Before approximately 1850 and the opening of the Erie Canal, the turnpikes like The Catskill Turnpike and The Scoharie Turnpike, were the best way to transport goods and livestock to the Hudson river ports and hence to market. These trips to market required many days of travel and drovers taverns supplied food, lodging and security for men and their livestock.
In 1952 when Stanley and Roberta Christman bought The Windham House From Miron Sanford, all of the essential elements of the drovers tavern were intact. They were a 300 acre, functioning, dairy farm and all of its accessories, a large hog house, a large chicken coop, a large three story horse barn with an interior ramp, Sapping supplies for maple syrup production, a good team of working horses, ice harvesting equipment and an ice pond. Nets for trapping carrier pidgeons, ( now extinct ), a fine, three holer outhouse, with his and her sides, the Stoney Brook house where the caretaker lived and of course the large Inn to sleep up to 70 people.
Over the next 50 years Christman’s changed and adapted to the demands of the day and the needs of Vacationers of today.
These men are threshing oats. This machine is parked where the valley 9th green is today.
Crossing the road in front of Stoney Brook. Notice how low the road bed is. Today the road is above the barn floor level.
Fred Persons was the hired man during the 1940s. Notice the open carrage House in the back right.
Taking in loose hay from below the loft. You will notice the fork and pully system inside the loft for unloading this wagon
The Inn with the horse stone in front for unloading carrages. The huge elm trees shaded the house.
The civil war reenactment folks welcome, Lincoln, Lee, Grant, Jackson and friends.
