The Railroad

MILLBROOK RAILROAD STATION

The following was taken from:

MEMORIES OF EARLY DAYS IN MILLBROOK

A Collection of Stories written by Louise Tompkins

Edited by Jean Armstrong and Virginia Augerson

(For Sale by Our Historical Society)

Page 156

GEORGE HUNTER BROWN

Millbrook Round Table, January 13, 1982

George Hunter Brown was a member of the firm of Brown Brothers, brokers in New York City. He developed a lung condition, which caused him to spend two years at sea on a boat. When he returned, much improved in health, he came to live in Dutchess County where the air was clear and invigorating.

He built a replica of a large English manor house near South Millbrook. The teams of horses, wagons and ox-carts near the scene of construction gave the impression that a country fair was being held.

Mr. Brown sent to Belgium for window glass for his mansion. It came wrapped in cloth, which the workmen were eager to give to their wives for clothing. The mansion, which he named Millbrook House, was completed in about 1864. A huge water tank was installed on the top floor to supply running water to the rooms. A man pumped all day to keep the tank full.

Mr. Brown decided that the only thing that would bring Dutchess County out of the wilderness years would be a railroad. He dreamed of a railroad that would begin at the polo grounds in New York City and end in Montreal, Canada. Eventually, for a very short time, this dream was almost realized by connecting with already existing railroads in the north. This arrangement was not successful, but the railroad through the country brought modernization as Mr. Brown hoped it would. The new railroad named the Newburgh, Dutchess and Columbia Railroad.

In 1867, the railroad was built along the top of Mine Hill before it reached Harts Village. Someone suggested that the prominent Coffin family should have a station named “Coffin Hill” in their honor. However, the railroad officials thought that a conductor passing through the train shouting “Coffin Hill”, Coffin Hill” might give the passengers goose pimples, so they named the station “Oak Summit.”

When a station was needed between Oak Summit and Harts Village, the officials decided to name it Millbrook in honor of Mr. Brown. He had named his property, located on the Mill Brook, Millbrook Farms, and officials thought that Millbrook was an ideal name for the new station.

The railroad, finished in 1869, ran through Millbrook and up to the roundhouse at Millerton. The railroad officials decided to ask Millbrook residents to be guests, free of charge, at an oyster supper in Millerton. The day of the supper was a beautiful one and the Millbrook guests rode to Millerton in fine style, sitting on seats made of planks in open boxcars.

When the guests found, much to their dismay, that the building where the supper was being held was much too small to accommodate all of them, a few climbed in windows to get a serving of the oysters. Many were disappointed because there were not enough oysters to go around. Oysters were hard to obtain in those days and an oyster supper was a rare treat.

The guests, who could not get any oysters, bought all the crackers, bread and cheese in all the stores in Millerton and satisfied their hunger that way. They returned home on the same railroad cars. They had such a good time on that train ride, whether or not they ate any oysters that they never tired of telling their grandchildren about it.

Mr. Brown saw that the farmers of Dutchess County did not have a regular year-round source of income. During the summer and fall months they took wagonloads of grain, corn, apples and potatoes to Poughkeepsie and shipped their products to the New York market. In the fall, the farmers made cattle, sheep and turkey drives to the New York City market, but there were many months when they had no income.

Mr. Brown understood their problem and he decided to help as many farmers as possible. In 1870, he built a milk factory on the famous Mill Brook in Harts Village, as it was called at that time.

The milk train to New York City gave the dairy business its start in Dutchess County and as more factories were built, it became a major industry. The milk train made it possible for farmers to send their other farm products to market at anytime during the year, thus greatly increasing their profits. The train opened up a new era for the people of Dutchess County and created employment for many people. Railroad tracks were built all through the county and stations were built at every village of any size.

George Hunter Brown was the first president and founder of this railroad, which played such a vital part in the development of Dutchess County. The railroad changed owners five times and it ended its career as the Central New England Railroad. For awhile it had a branch running from Millerton to Hartford, Connecticut. The last train on this railroad passed through Millbrook and Oak Summit in 1938, but the memory of all the prosperity that it brought to Dutchess County lingers on.

Trucks and automobiles took over the work of the railroad, but with the price of gasoline going up into outer space, why couldn’t the railroad be brought back to Dutchess County? What about the automobiles run by steam? The steamer cars traveled fast and with very little noise. Why couldn’t they be brought back? I always say, “Folks, where there’s a will, there’s a way.”