Photo Archivist's Selection of the Month:
December 2001

Images from The Guide to Nature Magazine
June 1910 Issue

Images can be found in unexpected places. Such as in six boxes containing The Guide to Nature magazine issues from 1908 to 1919 in the Marcus Research Library. A finding aid is available. While devoted to the study of nature, this Sound Beach based magazine of the early 1900s was also chock-full of real estate information of Stamford, advertisements, and the occasional full feature articles about Stamford.

In The Land and the Home section of the June 1910 issue can be found illustrated information about Shippan Point, then a popular—and apparently still expanding—summer spot.

SHIPPAN POINT HOTEL AND BATHING PAVILION
Where the beach is of hard white sand.

COTTAGES ON THE EXTREME END OF SHIPPAN POINT
The large house in the centre is the home of Robert H. Fosdick.

Prominently placed also is Revonah Manor.

You can read about its development in the Condensed History of Stamford: Revonah Manor.

THE HOME OF MR. JEVNE, REVONAH MANOR	Editor's Note: In 1909, Herman Henneberger and his son-in-law Henry Jevne, in one of Stamford's largest cash transactions, purchased approximately 180 acres from the heirs of Alfred Hoyt. They had been looking for a suitable parcel for speculative development. They initially announced that they planned to use the majority of the property in ten acre lots for the construction of houses similar to the existing houses on Strawberry Hill, mansions which were owned for the most part by successful business and professional people. Having not much success with this, they then decided to subdivide the southerly portion of their property into smaller lots. Minimum lot sizes of 100 by 150 feet were established, for a racially and ethnically restricted upper middle class enclave, with no home to be built for less than $6500. Revonah (Hanover spelled backwards) Manor is the best preserved example of one of Stamford's first planned communities.
THE HOME OF MR. PARSONS IN REVONAH MANOR

---

A VISITOR TO THE HAYFIELDS ON THE SAMMIS FARM IN JUNE OR EARLY JULY WILL WTNESS A SCENE LIKE THIS—The gentle-eyed oxen enjoy having their picture taken.

And finally this article: Connecticut Farms.

Much has been written about Connecticut farms being deserted. This may be true of certain sections where the farm land is some distance from the railroad, making the transportation of product cost more than the proceeds.

A drive over the hills in the suburbs of Stamford, will show the visitor that farming is not a failure in this part of Connecticut. Starting from Strawberry Hill, and driving north, we come to the large peach farm of Robert L. Case. During the season of this luscious fruit, the sixty acres of peach trees, yield something like ten thousand baskets of marketable fruit.

Mr. Case employs twenty-five pickers in the orchards, and twelve sorters in the fruit house, which is a large barn of ancient date. It is a wonderful sight to view rows upon rows of rosy cheeked peaches on the floor of the barn. A ready market is found in Stamford, Greenwich, Portchester and New York City.

PUMPKINS OF ALL SIZES GROWN ON THE FARM

During June, Windridge Farm is the scene of strawberry picking. Last season 12,000 (twelve thousand) baskets were sold, and this season a larger crop is expected, as there will be thirty thousand (30,000) plants in bearing condition.

The next farm of about seventy-five acres, is owned by Hiram Sammis. This is as finely situated as any farm on Newfield Avenue. Mr. Sammis raises principally potatoes and field corn, pumpkins, hay and rye which go toward the support of his herd of fine cows. Some of the large pumpkins weigh in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds.

To the west of the Sammis farm is a strip of woodland, mostly of chestnut trees, and beyond are the hay fields, where many tons of hay are harvested in the summer.

Indian Spring, the summer home of Mrs. Thomas S. Gray, shows care and culture in its surroundings. The house is about fifty years old and was for years the home of the late George Fox.

SUMMER HOME OF MRS. THOMAS S. GRAY AT NEWFIELD
This house apparently was named "CASE ACRES".

THE DAVENPORT HOMESTEAD.
erected in 1775. A revolutionary landmark.

The article ends with a photo of the Davenport Homestead, although the relevance is not clear.

Other Photo Archivist Selections of the Month
Photo Collection Information