A BIT OF THE KELSEY HISTORY

The people who live in the area that we like to call Kelsey are asked where and what is Kelsey. For the benefit of visitors and newcomers to this area I have put together a little history of what was at one time called Kelsey.

 James Kelsey migrated from Cannonsville to settle in this area and named it after himself. The area that we now consider Kelsey covers the entire Sands Creek Valley,  from just south of the lower end of Dry Brook Road, which is where the Town of Tompkins begins and goes to where the Town of Cannonsville was before the reservoir was built in the 1950’s.

There were three one room schools in the area. One was on Dry Brook Road, the other was located about in the area  where the south end of the Dry Brook road meets with the Sands Creek Road, and of course the other is our current community center.

There was a creamery located along Sands Creek Road, on the east side just north of the old Seymour Homestead. Parts of the foundation are still visible. The creamery was destroyed by fire in 1921. Sands Creek Road is just visible along the right lower side of the picture.

Saw mills were a big business and Kelsey had a number of mills scattered throughout the valley. The mills were powered by the creeks in the area. The lake at Camp Hilltop is where the ice was harvested every winter, packed in sawdust  and stored for use by the creamery and local residents. Remember this was needed because there was no electricity and refrigerators in those days. Just the good old icebox.

The residents of Kelsey did have a post office and it was located for many years in the house that is opposite the sign for Kelsey that was placed on Sands Creek Road. The house was known as the Simons homestead for many years. There was a small store there also. The post office was there from 1891- 1934. Then it was moved to the home of Everett Hillman at Camp Hilltop. The post office was closed in 1959.

Farming was a large part of what went on in the area. There were working dairy farms throughout the valley. When the local creameries began to close most of the farms went out of business. The cost to transport milk to creameries that were located further away played a big part. The Seymour Farm on Sands Creek Road and the farm that belong to the parents of Barbara Begeal Rotzler were the only ones to update to bulk storage tanks and a milking parlor. The milk then was picked up everyone so many days by a milk tanker. The farms as we knew them are now gone, but the barns is still standing.

Baseball was a big time sport for the local area. Kelsey had there own team and played in a league. Some of the local ball player names you may have heard of were: Harlan and Grant Peckham, John and Stanley Offnick, Ralph and Gerald Moore, and also Clarke M Seymour. The games in Kelsey were played on the flats across from the Rhinebeck Homestead.