Randall Farms in art

Posted on | February 3, 2009 |

Since the late nineteenth century, Randall Farms was a popular place for artist to practice their craft. This started in the 1890s with William Van Pelt, a Brooklyn NY photographer who spent much time in the Mt. Sinai community photographing everyday life events. The Randall family and their farm were also the inspiration of many photos; the first were of the family home and post office.

Many photos were taken of Forrest B. Randall’s new barn, which he built in his late teens. One of the first photos taken of the farm was of the two story-ice house and the pond. It is assumed that Forrest was dabbling in names for his establishment, as this photo has an address label on the back, addressed to E.C.Randall PM Walnut Dairy Farm Mount Sinai L.I. NY. Eliza Catherine Randall was Forrest’s mother; she had taken over the postmaster’s job following the death of her husband John in 1886 until 1907. The Walnut Dairy Farm is very interesting, as it is the only reference to the farm being of this name. It is also interesting that at this point (c. 1900) it was a “dairy farm”, as the establishment of the industry was in its infancy but apparently Forrest had made the decision to focus on dairy.

More photos from the 1900 time period were taken by William Van Pelt, of different views of the barn, pond, cows and people.

The farm became a place for painters and photographers to frequent. Another famous photographer, A.S. Greene from Port Jefferson, also had photographed the family farm house/post office in 1907; this photo appeard on a postcard. In 1938, another postcard signd by local photographer Charles Davis and entitled “Filling Time” depicted the filling of the silo with corn.

In 1947, a wonderful painting was done by Robert Zoeller. Mr. and Mrs Zoeller were part-time residents of Mt. Sinai and were both well-known painters of the time. This painting was purchased by my grandmother, Marion Randall, as a gift to my grandfather, her husband Waldo.

 

During the 1950’s Raymond Freemantle painted water colors of the farm. In 1993 Estelle Econoply did a painting from a black and white photo of the pond and barn.

As farms disappeared from the scene on Long Island, Randall Farm became a subject of a time gone by for many professional and amateur artists of all kinds. If you have photos or art work of Randall farms, I would love to see it.

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About

Randall Linebacks are a rare breed of cattle which originated in Vermont and are steadily gaining popularity. Here you will find photos and stories about my own Randall Linebacks, as well as my experiences on New England dairy farms.

My childhood home, Randall Farms of Mt. Sinai, NY is also a subject near and dear to me. I have been collecting photos and memories and will share some of them here.

(The name is a coincidence; historic Randall Farms and the Randall Lineback breed bear no known connection.)

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