Gomez Mill House
In 1719, a Sephardic Jew, Luis Moses Gomez, purchased 1,200 acres in modern-day Marlboro, New York. Gomez established one of the earliest commercial ventures in the Mid-Hudson Valley. This process included operating mills and lime kilns and then shipping the material on what is now known as Jews Creek, named after Gomez’s business. The namesake of the historic site may have created the first, and most widely recognized, ownership of a mill, and this introduced the type of business to the area.
On the heels of Gomez’s ownership of the house, Wolvert Ecker, an American Revolutionary patriot and civic leader, owned slaves who had the responsibility of building the second floor of the building. Ecker remodeled Gomez’s original house and, as he was a minuteman, held numerous meetings with other local revolutionaries. Building upon the foundation of the historic site’s namesake, Ecker continued to establish commercial operations, and he started a packet service across the Hudson, transporting cargo and passengers across the river. After Ecker’s death in 1799, the site’s ownership transferred to his wife and son, William Ecker.
Exchanging hands quickly, in 1918, the Gomez Mill House transferred to Joseph ‘Dard’ Hunter and then Martha Gruening, an American journalist and feminist. Also a lawyer and Civil rights activist, Gruening established a close friendship with W.E.B. DuBois. Gruening obtained the house with the intention of making it a school. Gruening intended for the school to be built to give her adopted African-American son, David Butt, a proper education in the United States. Although the school advertised a ‘Libertarian International School’ and ‘Country School for Colored Children and Others’ in the Civil Rights magazine of another Civil rights activist, the institution never came to fruition. Gruening moved back to Europe after World War I, and put the house up for sale in 1923.
Despite ownership exchanging through the hands of many prominent individuals in American and international history, the Gomez Mill House historic site currently faces issues regarding the severe lack of funding and public knowledge it exists. Citizens of Orange County lack awareness of this fascinating location, as well as other local historic sites and museums. This reasoning creates the funding issue the site faces today. The severe lack of funding puts priceless historic documents and artifacts at risk of getting lost, damaged, stolen, etc. Although the staff try their best to prevent such materials from getting damaged, the site requires more awareness, attention, and recognition from visitors and donors. The site attempted to gain recognition through inviting guests and donors to events for politicians, such as one event for New York State Senator James Skoufis. However, this attempt cannot possibly cover all the expenses of the site or attract nearly enough attention from the general public of the surrounding area.
Since the site’s central issue revolves around the overall lack of awareness and visitors, the Gomez Mill House’s goal is to attract people from across Orange and Ulster County and all over the world. Due to the various property owners over the years, the information the site offers can intrigue anybody. The site uses different forms of communicating the details of its rich history. For example, they have an informative video clip played on a loop in the Visitor’s Center. The video, played specifically before and after tours of the house, gives guests additional information. Tour guides who are well-acquainted with the house’s history lead the guided tour inside the house. Visitors are allowed to look at Dard Hunter’s paperwork or view the original flooring Eckert and revolutionaries stood on, as they were contributing to important moments in New York and national history.
The Gomez Mill House site offers information on the many cultures and backgrounds of its owners. In order to retain and display such important works and artifacts, the public needs to know about it and what distinguishes it from other historic sites. If the location fails to attract public attention, it risks becoming forgotten and our connection to this aspect of history disappears to the consequence of time.