Notes: A History of Pine Acres Farm
Hampton, Connecticut 1914-1951 – Written by James L. Goodwin
Source [[Goodwin State Forest]]
Land purchases
- 28 acres in 1913
- 19 acres in 1915 – total 47
- 27 acres in 1916 – total 74
- 342 acres in 1917 – total 416
- 10 acres in 1918 – total 426
- 75 acres in 1919 – total 501
- 150 acres in 1922 – total 651
- 165 acres in 1926 – total 816
- 302 acres in 1927 – total 1,118
- 98 acres in 1928 – total 1,216
- 47 acres in 1929 – total 1,263
- 167 acres in 1932 – total 1,430(acreage of Cedar Swamp not exact)
- 12 acres in 1934 – total 1,442 (total from book, used to fudge CS acres)
- 65 acres in 1935 – total 1,507
- 60 acres in 1936 – total 1,567
- 22 acres in 1937 – total 1,589 (book says 1,650 so there’s 61 acre diff)
- 30 acres in 1947 – total 1,680
28 acres purchase in 1913
Land purchased for $8 to $15 an acre
3 acre pine grove and 25 acres of old field brushland of mostly gray birch and alder
Cleared in 1914 and replanted 16 acres with 4 year white pine transplants and 9 acres of hardwood
19 acres purchased in 1915 east of original
old house and barn torn down, but timbers used in construction of new house
Construction of new house in 1915-1916
east side for the forester and west side for Goodwin
Construction of barn in 1916 with hayloft, stables, garage, and rooms for a hired man
roof and side shingles were made from white cedar harvested on the property
roof lasted 25 years and sides were still going (roof replaced with asbestos)
C. Aubrey Delong was hired as superintendent in Fall 1915
from Pennsylvania and graduate of Mt. Alto Forestry School
Wintered with his wife in ‘the canvas house’ and ‘lived on rabbits’
There was a house and well near large lilac bushes at the lower end of the pasture lot near the state road housed the Vickers and Bates families
Sam Vickers cut wood
Harry Bates drove the farm team
house was torn down around 1920?
1916
- 27 acres were purchased east of the town road from Lester Burnham
1917
- purchased
- 51 acres of ‘cut over woodland’ between barn and railroad
- 27 acres from W.R. Phillips south side of State Road
- Riley Farm 140 acres
- 16 acres open fields, 4 acre orchard, rest woodland
- Ford Farm 124 acres
- 20 acres hayfields, rest woodland and pasture
1918
- Cleared and plowed 6 acres of Riley field planted oats and potatoes for the war effort
- Phillips land planted with 1,000 Douglas firs near Fiske Road
- deer ate the majority 10-12 remained
- De Long left and I. Rupell took over temporarily
- Purchased 10 acres from Mrs. Brayman north of Riley farm
1919
- Purchased ‘Cannon Property’ that had a house on the highway and 75 acres of woodland from Lester Burnham
- Riley field was planted with apple trees and rye
- got 60 bushels of seed and sold for $13060 bushels of apples from Riley orchard
- Frank Phillips paid $2,000 for 200 cords of wood and 175,000 board feet of lumber from Cannon
1920
- George Walker took charge as superintendent of Pine Acres
- 28.5 acres of Cannon, Brayman, and Riley pastures planted with 29,000 red and white pine
- 300 bushels of apples from Riley orchard, sold to wholesaler Foster in Willimantic
1921
- Cannon lot planted with 20,000 red and white pine
- 4.5 acres of Brayman planted with 4,500 red and white pine
- 1.5 acres burned accidentally and replaced with 1,500 norway spruce
- Ford 5 acres pasture planted with 20,000 norway spruce for christmas trees
1922
- William Beckwith took over after Walkers
- Riley Field near Cedar Swamp planted with 680 apple trees
- Both orchards were fenced 8 ft high for $175
- 746 bushels of apples sold for 75 cents a bushel
- Purchased Chapel Farm 150 acres and a house
- 17 acres hayfieldsexchanged in part for 20 acres of Ford hayfields on Hampton street
1923
- De Long returned to take over from Beckwith (ill health)
- Ford and Riley planted with 10,000 scotch pine (failed experiment not a good timber tree)
- Ford christmas tree lots planted with 22,000 replacements
- Addition built onto the house
1924
- Fire likely caused by the railroad burned 43 acres of pine and was paid $2,336 in damages (cost of plantations and 20 cords of wood)
- Reforestation cost $10-22 an acre
- First sale of Christmas trees – made a total of $15.25
1925
- Part of the Cannon lot prepared for orchard
1926
- Edson Stocking took over when De Long returned to Pennsylvania
- Patrolman for Connecticut State Forestry Department and Talcott Mountain Forest Protective Association
- Purchased 15 acres at corner of Cedar Swamp and 11th section road from Graber
- Purchased 150 acres from Deloge which started ‘Chaplin Forest’ subdivision
- thinned same year 5,800 board feet and 103 cords of wood
1927
- 13,600 chestnut posts cut in Chaplin forest
- Purchased woodland:
- 15 acres E. Chapel34 acres from Hanks150 acres and a house from Van Durr35 acres from Oliver which started ‘Orchard Hill Forest’68 acres from Sophi Spark
1928
- Timber survey by Mardesheff
- 680 acres of woodlands, with 1,711,842 board feet and 6,203 cords of wood. Growth at 1/3 cord per acre per year
- Purchased woodland:
- 12 acres from Rockwood
- 15 acres from Clark23 acres from Fittabile in Chaplin
- 48 acres of Cedar Swamp from [[Tuttle Brick Company]]
- In 1910, the Tuttle Brick Co. is probably the largest single independent producer of common building brick in the state of Connecticut, turning out something like 35,000,000 brick per year. Taken over by Michael Kane Brick Co. about 1940
- Purchased stone crusher from Tyringham, MA to improve roads
- [[CFPA]] had annual meeting at the farm
- Salisbury Woolsey was President
1929
- Drilled artesian well 155 ft
- More improvements to woods roads including Martin Rd in Chaplin forest
- Purchased woodland:
- 28 acres L. H. Burnham19 acres from Kostyk
1930
- Installed a sawmill from C. S. Amidon and Sons of E. Willington 1/4 mile west of the railroad tracks
1931
- Purchased 143 acres from Winslow known locally as ‘Orchard Hill’
- old house surrounded by huge old sugar maples and foundations of barn20 acres of what was pasture/fields
- Tore down the house and build an open stone fireplace and lean-to for picnics
1932
- Orchards produced 1,702 bushels of apples
- Purchased
- 3 Cedar Swamp lots from J. Keech including ‘Govenor’s Island’ that should amount to 149 acres. It was owned by Govenor John Cleveland in 1843 and said to be the last camp of Nipmuck Indians in eastern CT18 acres from C. W. Hanks
1933
- Damed the lower end of Cedar Swamp with a 400ft cement core with two spillways completed in 1935
1934
- 20th anniversary of Pine Acres Farm
- 230 acres of red and white pine plantations
- 15 acres of spruce
- CCC from Natchaug [[Camp Fernow]] cut 127 cords of wood (7 freight cars)
- Purchased:
- 12 acres from Exener in Chaplin to complete Chaplin forest
1935
Horses sold and barn partly converted to cold storage for apples
Purchased:
15 acres from Rosen on Fisk Road
50 acres from T. Navin
1936
- Sold 8,000 red pines to Bay State Nurseries for $1,000 from Cannon and Orchard Hill
- 300 trout put into brook from American Fish Culture Co. Carolina, RI but the lake was too warm and they didn’t survive
- 50,000 board feet of oak timber
- Purchased:
- 60 acres from Charles Cartwright north of Cedar Swamp Road
1937
- Large mouth bass went into the lake
- 533 christmas trees sold for $189.15 35 cents per tree!
- Purchased;
- 10 acres from Mrs. McGuigan12 acres from J. P. Rock
1938
- Great Hurricane of 38′
- took 5 years to salvage Pine Acres woods
- storm struck around 2PM and lasted for 4 hours, 4 in rain, pines went down all over due to soft ground but spruce were less affected
- 20 men from [[Camp Fernow]] helped clear the roads
- Sold 91,218 board feet to government run New England Timber Salvage Corporation
- Additional 200,000 sawed into lumber at Pine Acres mill
- 675 Christmas trees
1939
- Continued clean up from hurricane
- Men from [[Camp Fernow]] spent 4,208 hours clear six miles of road
1940
- Continued clean up from hurricane
- 12 plantations cleared and replanted with 12,568 red and white pine and Norway spruce
- Governor’s Island replanted with white red, norway, and larch
- Timber survey by Harold Sweeton
- 1,056,299 board feet and 9,573 cords of woodLast in 1928 1,711,842 board feet and 6,203 cords of woodGrowth at 30 bf and 6/10 cord per acre per year or the amount that could be cut annually and not deplete the forest capital
1941
- 49,000 tress planted
- [[CFPA]] held its annual meeting with a picnic at Orchard Hill
- Christopher Gallup presidentSpeakers:Colin G. Spencer of the North Carolina Forestry Assoc. spoke on “Making a State Forestry Conscious”Chester Martin Secretary of the CT Wild Life Federation spoke on “Educating for Conservation
1942
- 4,000 bushels of apples largest crop ever produced at Pine Acres
- 1,787 Christmas trees sold – Trees at 58 cents each
1943
- Hurricane damage mostly cleaned up what was left wasn’t salvageable anymore
1944
- Due to war demand for oil, firewood was very important but more expensive then ever
- only 132 Christmas trees were cut and sold
1945
- Lake froze almost to the bottom killed over 8,000 bass and perch in the lake, which were used as fertilizer
- 50 cents was charged to fish the lake per boat per day (made $104 total). Catfish allowed to be caught and bass had to be thrown back
- State Forestry Department cut red and white pines from 1920
1946
- Rented orchards to Clark Stocking for $300 and cold storage for $365
1947
- Edson Stocking was superintendent bought 2.5 acres for a house at Fiske and State roads
- House renovated, rear porch opened, and garage built
- Orchard rental didn’t work out so resumed operation of them
- Not much demand for cord wood anymore
- Purchased 30 acres from Jesse Burnham
1948
- vista opened for better view of the lake
- sold cows and pigs as they were not economical
- 1,640 poles sold to Jezierski for tobacco tent poles
- Sold: 81 acres of the Phillips property to Edson Stocking
- Purchased:
- 104 acre Clancy Farm from Railroad Co.
- 1,931 Christmas tress sold
1949
- [[CFPA]] annual meeting held on June 4th
- Driest summer ever experienced
- Employed some Latvian immigrants
1950
- Hosted the Garden Club of Hartford
- First year there was a profit
- 2,848 Christmas trees sold
- Severe windstorm damaged 10 acres
1951
- New survey of the property by UCONN students Paul Koelle, Charles Hodgson, John Olsen, and Joseph Sposta
- 2,176, 219 board feet and 17,104 cord of wood
- In 1940 1,056,299 board feet and 9,573 cords of wood
- In 1928 1,711,842 board feet and 6,203 cords of wood
- Old wood road between Orchard Hill Road and Twiss Road started improvement
