Gomez/Acker(t) Mill House
MID HUDSON
Gomez/Acker(t) Mill House
http://www.gomez.org/
11 Mill House Road
Marlboro, NY 12542
Phone: (845) 236-3126
Hours: Open by appointment in the winter. Spring hours are Wednesday - Sunday from 10 AM - 4 PM
Tours begin at 10 AM, 11:30, 1 PM and 2:30
Historical Description:
In 1714, Luis Moses Gomez bought 6,000 acres of land and built the fieldstone blockhouse for a fur trading post that lasted some thirty years. It is the oldest house on register in Orange County and the oldest existing Jewish residence in North America. His sons sold the house, and later Wolvert Ackert bought the house just before the Revolutionary War. Ackert was a descendant of the early Dutch settlers and had no patience with British rule. He immediately used the house to hold weekly meetings with neighbors with the same views as he. He would keep them up to date on what was going on in the war, Whig activity, and any anti- Tory activities. He became the Commissioner of Newburgh's Committee of Safety and Observation. This group reported people who were suspected of being loyalist. Wolvert, who changed his name to Acker after the war, was also a lieutenant in the New Marlborough Company of Minute Men.
The Site:
On twenty-eight acres sits the six-room house, the mill, the icehouse, and the restored root cellar and work shed, which is now the visitor center. There are lecturers, art exhibits, craft workshops, archaeological digs, and events for the whole family to enjoy. The house has stood for 285 years and has been restored over the years. A newly restored wheel on the mill allows school children to make paper.
Directions:
The Gomez Mill House is located on Mill House Road in the town of Marlboro, NY. The Mill House is 5.2 miles north of the junction of Route 9W and I84 (Newburgh Beacon Bridge) and ten miles south of the junction of Routes 44/55 (Poughkeepsie Bridge).
