Beacon Historical Society

06/19/2026

Beacon High Girls 1943

We always welcome from our readers old photos that depict some aspect of Beacon's history. This photo of the prospective June 1943 Beacon High girl graduates, taken on November 4, 1942, was sent to us by Beacon Historical Society member Veda Mae (Lyons) Andrus of Venice, Florida. Included in this group is our own Joan (Keating) VanVoorhis, who like many of her classmates at the time took an early (January 1943) graduation. Photo back row (left to right): June Tompkins, Marion Williams, Julia Taylor, Barbara Shaw, Barbara Bierce, Jane McNem, Betty Ewing, Margaret Hupcey, Louise Mulford, Louise Middleton, Josephine Fastoso, Rose Pesacreta; third row: Mercedes Ferraris, Patricia Cahill, Elaine Morel, Ruth Brink, Joan Keating, Eleanor Schultz, Mary Smith, Evelyn Murphy, Anne O'Donnell, Annabelle Birdsall, Rita Pomeranz, Elwyn Shay; second row: Norma Baker, Veda Mae Lyons, Vivian Van Tassel, Irene Mendes, Theresa Spellman, Betty Secor, Jessica Witteman, Rose Matychak, Evelyn Macewicz, Mary McCutcheon, Catherine Shebanie, Kathryn Raymond; first row: Rose DiRubbio, Barbara Dinan, Dolores Dinan, Charlotte Thom, Doris Lynch, Mary Rogers, Marcella Eignor, Nancy MacCailin, Gene Severance, Stena Scadurn, Matilda Shebanie, and Jean Kearney.

COPYRIGHT
Beacon Historical Society Newsletter February 2006
By Robert J. Murphy
We’re celebrating a half century of saving and sharing Beacon’s history! It’s a perfect time to join – visit our website at BeaconHistorical.org and click on the support tab! We’re 50 and fabulous – come join the fun!

06/18/2026

How will you celebrate America 250 this summer? Beacon has lots of options for you:

This July 4th weekend presents the perfect opportunity to also celebrate Beacon’s role in the founding of America as the county, state

06/18/2026

Occupying the foundations of a Revolutionary War-era gristmill, converted to a cotton mill and then reputed to be one of the first woolen factories in the country, the Glenham Woolen Mills spun an interesting chapter of local history during its decades of operation. The mill, located on the site of the later Texaco Research Center, had its beginning in 1821 when the Glenham Company Was formed. Among the first shareholders were Peter H. Schenck, John Jacob Astor (the New York millionaire), Gardiner Howland, Russell Dart and Philip Hone, once mayor of New York City.

By the middle of the 19th-century, the properties, which then included the Groveville site, were worth $1 million and considered the nation’s fourth-largest woolen mill. By 1868, the Glenham Mills consumed 4,000 pounds of fleece wool per day; with the fleece of an average sheep weighing four pounds, it took the wool of a thousand sheep per day, or about 350,000 sheep per year to meet demand.

The mill's broadcloth was of the finest quality and won awards in various expositions. Upon touring the site in the 1840s, orator Henry Clay, according to local press accounts, admired the product and "spoke enthusiastically of the texture and added that the color was national. Subsequently, Mr. Schenck sent Mr. Clay cloth enough to make him a suit and the 'Statesman of the West' took an almost childish delight in displaying it in the Senate Chamber and telling the history of its manufacture."

The Marquis de Lafayette is also said to have toured the facility, admired its cloth, and been given a suit in which "he took great pride." In coming years, the Glenham Mills would be noted for its production of blue woolen uniforms for the Union Army.

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Beacon Historical Society Newsletter August 1997
By Denise Doring VanBuren
We’re celebrating a half century of saving and sharing Beacon’s history! It’s a perfect time to join – visit our website at BeaconHistorical.org and click on the support tab! We’re 50 and fabulous – come join the fun!

06/17/2026

579 South Avenue Hat Factory

The Society thanks Frank Baxter of Beacon for donating to our collections a poster-sized, undated (1940s?) aerial photograph of the old Tioronda Hat Shop factory. Built in 1879 by local hat manufacturer Lewis Tompkins, this factory also was known by the names Tomkins Hat Shop and the Dutchess Hat Shop (when this photo was snapped), which also included at one time the Merrimac Hat Company. In the early 1950s the Atlas Fibers Company, which recycled old woolen and cotton clothing into fabric filler products, took over the building. In 1952, Atlas expanded the factory by adding a new building to its west end. In the 1960s and 70s, the Beacon Terminal Corporation and the Chemical Rubber Corporation were the last business concerns to occupy the buildings.

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Beacon Historical Society Newsletter Sept 2006
By Robert J. Murphy
We’re celebrating a half century of saving and sharing Beacon’s history! It’s a perfect time to join – visit our website at BeaconHistorical.org and click on the support tab! We’re 50 and fabulous – come join the fun!

06/16/2026

Netting History:
First Salmon Ever Caught Locally in Hudson River, June 1888

Rarely do local "big fish" tales from the past rise to the level of the historical noteworthy, but the following fishmonger news item jumped right off the page and landed in this newsletter. It was the lead story from the June 16, 1888 issue of The Fishkill Standard newspaper.

"Mr. Thomas Talbot proudly displayed at his fish market [on Main Street in Fishkill Landing] on Thursday [June 14, 1888] the first salmon ever caught in Newburgh Bay. It was caught by Eugene B. Sullivan, in his shad net, and weighed 9 and ¾ pounds. Mr. Talbot gave him $5 for it, and had the salmon laid on some green leaves on a big cake of ice. It was sold by the pound to various parties, to be cut up, bringing 65 cents a pound. We [the paper's reporter] notice by an exchange that Capt. John Pindar of Catskill caught a salmon weighing 17 pounds in his shad net last week. He put it back in the stream."

COPYRIGHT
Beacon Historical Society Newsletter June 2006
By Robert J. Murphy
We’re celebrating a half century of saving and sharing Beacon’s history! It’s a perfect time to join – visit our website at BeaconHistorical.org and click on the support tab! We’re 50 and fabulous – come join the fun!