Dutchess Manor in Beacon, New York, is best known as one of the Hudson Valley’s premier wedding and event venues. With spectacular views of the Hudson River and its eye-popping architecture, this fine structure has become an area landmark.

Ah, but there is more to Dutchess Manor than meets the eye. It has a fascinating history that ties it back to the days when men’s fortunes could be made in brick making along the Hudson River. One of these entrepreneurs was Francis Timoney.

Francis Timoney immigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1852 and worked for a while in the brick industry in Westchester County. All the while, he saved his money from his earnings and from the shares he received as a foreman.  In 1886, he purchased three brickyard properties in Dutchess Junction, also known as Dennings Point, in what is now Beacon, NY. One property was in working order, but the other two needed to be brought back up to speed.

After renovations to the properties, Francis Timoney had three yards on the river, two barges for hauling bricks, close access to rail, and a production output of around 25 million bricks per year. Life was getting suitable for Francis Timoney. So good that he decided to build a family estate on the Hudson River, almost overlooking his brickyards. That family home was Dutchess Manor, a partially Second Empire-style structure that ultimately found its way onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The original structure, a historic landmark, is the large central structure, with the north and south wings added much later.

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So things were going Timoney’s way, but as we all know, fate is fickle and can, at short notice, turn one’s world around. And indeed, in 1897, fate dealt one of its famous twists to Francis Timoney.

An abstract from the NY Times on July 14, 1897:

MATTEAWAN, July 14. — The Melzingah dams, which supply Fishkill Landing and Matteawan with water, burst at 2:30 o’clock this morning. The waters rushed down the mountain, following the old bed of the Melzingah Brook. Two bridges were swept away. The great volume of water struck the little settlement occupied by the laborers of Frank Timoney’s brick yard at Dutchess Junction.

The damage was so extensive that the Timoney’s were never able to recover from the devastating event. Eventually, they sold Duchess Manor. While the yards are gone, thankfully, Dutchess Manor remains, and in excellent condition. Since the mid-1940s, several generations of the Cone family have run Dutchess Manor as a wedding and event facility.

The Sojourner



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