The Kimlin Cider Mill
July 14, 2010 by admin
You may have noticed an old stone building with red siding along Cedar Avenue. In fact, the Old Kimlin Cider Mill is hard to miss, as the old barn sits so close to the road that you can almost reach out and touch it as you drive by. While the Old Cider Mill is not adjacent to the Casperkill creek, it is still an important landmark within the watershed.
The Kimlin family began operating a farm on the east side of Cedar Avenue in the early 1850’s, when they first came to the United States from Ireland. It is unclear exactly what was produced at the original farm, but we do know that from 1925 to 1935 Ralph R. Kimlin expanded the farming operation into a cider mill and public attraction with a curiosities museum. The 2-acre property had a small orchard, but the cider mill became such a big attraction for local residents and students from Vassar College, that the Kimlins also brought in apples from other local farms, such as the Hampton Farms on South Road.
Kathi Bihn, who grew up not far from the Kimlin Cider Mill, gave us some insight as to why the place was so popular, especially in the 1950s and 60s:
The whole thing was so creepy that it was neat. You just went to get spooked. The museum, especially, was so freaky; I went to see that as a kid. They had all this civil war or WWI stuff on the wall, they had pistols, a big stuffed carp, a moose, a Siamese calf. And all the Vassar girls would go on their bicycles and carve their names in the wood.” Bihn told us that these oddities, coupled with the kindness of the owners, were what attracted people to the Mill…not necessarily the quality of the food. “You could go and get cider and very stale cookies. Ugh. God knows when they made those things”
The Kimlin Cider Mill shut down in the late 1960s, although the property surrounding the barn remained open as a park. Apparently Mr. Kimlin kept a flock of sheep in the pasture for several years with hopes of “preserving the traditional farm life that was once an integral part of life in the area, but which was already beginning to disappear at the time.” Today, a group called ‘The Cider Mill Friends of Open Space & Historic Preservation, Inc.’ carries on Mr. Kimlin’s mission. The group purchased the Mill and surrounding 1.8 acres of meadowland in 2008. They got the site listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places and designated as a Town of Poughkeepsie Historic Landmark. Although invasive plants have overrun the Mill, the Cider Mill Friends eventually hope to restore the historic site for future generations to enjoy.
Information from http://www.cidermillfriends.org/
You can check out their guestbook for more stories about the Mill.
Thank you for this wonderful write-up. We always welcome volunteers. Our group gives behind-the-scenes tours by appointment only to show first hand the incredible process of restoration from benign neglect to dealing with developers and the threat of demolition to acquisition to stabilization to phased preservation. Restoring the surrounding meadows with native grasses and wildflowers with a meandering trail is also part of the site restoration. Any botanical or ecological collaboration with the Casperkill watershed work is most welcome!