BY DOUGLAS FEIDEN
MONROE — Ready to step into a time tunnel and explore the storied village of Monroe in a bygone era? Curious about the horse-drawn wagons and carriages of a century ago?
Want to take a gander at the parasols and the long flowing dresses worn by the women? Or imagine the dark suits and broad-brimmed hats donned by the men as they gathered along the tracks in front of the old railroad depot?
Ever feel that the 19th century, for all its deprivations, and the early part of the 20th century, at least before the Great Depression took hold and kind of gummed up the works, has more resonance for you than the early years of the 21st century?
Well, if you fancy the days of yore — if you’ve got a real weakness for the romance of yesteryear, and if you believe that we can never chart the future without a keen knowledge of our fabled past — then have we got the tour for you!
Time travel in old MonroeResidents, visitors, tourists, business owners and anybody else who happens to be intrigued by the long, colorful and eventful history of Monroe can soon enter a veritable time capsule and satisfy their curiosities about our heritage, our forefathers and our olden days:
The occasion is the annual walking tour of the Village of Monroe, which will be conducted by the Monroe Historical Society on Saturday, June 10, starting at 10 a.m.
The tour, lasting roughly an hour and a half, is free of charge and no reservations are required. Tour-goers are asked to assemble, promptly, at the corner of Lake Street and the Millpond Parkway.
And don’t worry about missing out because of the weather. A back-up rain date for the tour, should it prove necessary, is set for Sunday, June 11, beginning at 1 p.m.
Town of Monroe Historian James Nelson will be guiding the curious, the nostalgic, the history buffs, the armchair scholars conversant in Orange County antiquity — and absolutely anybody else who happens to show up.
“If you are interested in learning the history of the Village of Monroe — and what it once looked like — this is the tour for you,” he said.
And trust us, he knows what he’s talking about: Nelson has been the town historian since 1982, and he’s been conducting these tours into our past for more than 20 years. Typically, 30 or 40 people sign on.
Fashion on the railroadOne of his specialties is the old Erie Railroad, and Nelson will tell you that the original depot on Lake Street, which is still standing, was built in 1841, subsequently enlarged, and sadly, has sat vacant ever since the Barn Star Café closed its doors a few years ago.
He’s even got the pictures that document what a social beehive it once was, including a 1905 image showing scores of smartly dressed women in their finery and well-groomed men, almost all of them wearing hats, milling about the station and perhaps gossiping as they wait to catch the train.
Of course, don’t expect to hear the distant and distinctive whistle of the Erie locomotive any time soon, although Nelson may conjure it up as the tour passes alongside the Heritage Trail.
“The last regular train came through Monroe on April 15, 1983,” he said. “And the tracks came up in December of 1984.” The right of way and the rail beds became today’s Heritage Trail.
Nelson will dispense dozens of other tidbits and treasures as the tour wends its way past the Masonic Hall on Stage Road, which dates to 1813; the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, also on Stage Road, which dates to 1853, and the Reed Building downtown, the former home of Rogers Drug Store, which dates to 1894 and was well traversed by the horse-and-buggy set.
“We’ll be talking about all these historic buildings as we go along,” Nelson said.
He’ll even be talking about buildings that don’t exist anymore, like the long-gone Monroe Dairy Association Creamery building, built in 1895, which was home to one of the town’s dairy coops, whose members sold their milk to customers in New York City.
Nelson said the village razed the structure, which was across the street from where Monroe Farm stands today, in roughly 1923 as it was clearing the Mill Pond area for Crane Park.
Founded in 1974, the Monroe Historical Society labors to preserve the history of the Town of Monroe, the Village of Monroe, the Village of Harriman and the Village of Kiryas Joel through photographs, artifacts and written history.