Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Roxmor Neighborhood House

After the summer meeting back in July, Linda McDonald (one of our fabulous Woodland Valley historians) sent me this great information about the Roxmor neighborhood house. By now most of you probably don't remember, but Dakin Morehouse had talked about it at the meeting. He told us it had been located on the Roxmor property but had been taken down a long time ago. Since this summer has been crazy busy for me, I didn't have time to get this information up to the blog (I have to do extra work on old photos). But it is some GREAT valley history and I am finally getting it out to share with all of you folks. Here is what Linda had to say:

"Hello again, some more pictures you might like.

(1) is the neighborhood house that Dakin mentioned at the meeting. I remember it as a young child. It was in disrepair and then torn down in the 60's or 70's. Few people remember it now and I was never in it, but was always intrigued by what I thought was a tiny church, till my Mom explained it's use. If you were going up the Roxmor driveway, it would have been on your right in the woods, a few hundred feet in, set on a flat area.

(2) is the Roxmor store. I believe it was only used in the summer. It also had the Post Office in it. My Mom and her friends would walk down from Woodland Valley Park Association (about 3 miles) to get the mail and then walk back. Can't you just see that now a days. It got washed away in one of 30/40's floods, not sure just when. The land was really eroded away. It doesn't even look like anything could ever have been on that part of the road. If you were coming down the Roxmor driveway, it was off to the right on the other side of the Woodland Road. The Post Office was moved permanently to E.B. Miller's home, who was Post Master year round (presently Dakin & Doris Morehouse's house). Mr Miller was the developer and proprietor of Roxmor, his son Paul Miller later lived there with his family and was the Post Master until the close of the Woodland Post Office and his retirement in 1966.  The first Woodland Post Office was on the Botchford property.

(3) is Roxmor inside in the common area/living room, where today the pool table is and their square dances are held. Still has much the same feel to it.

(4/5) this is the front and back of a penny postcard (really cost .04) that Paul Miller sent to his brother Edward Tryon Miller on the last day of the Woodland Post Office's operation. October 21, 1966. For almost a 100 years we had our on Post Office and more recently our own Zip code 12497.

On another interesting note, E. Tryon Miller of Roxmor married Vesta Morehouse of Woodland Valley Park Association (WVPA). Her father, Wilmot Morehouse was 1 of the 3 founders of WVPA in 1906. He was also Dakin Morehouse's Grandfather. The road 'Wilmot Way' was named after Wilmot Morehouse. The road is on the left just past the State Campsite, near the end of the Woodland Road, where you would cross over the Woodland stream into some of the WVPA's Club's private property."

- Linda McDonald

Thanks Linda for this AWESOME history. Sorry it took me so long to post it to the blog!!