Losee Orchard in 1944

The Losee Farm first belonged to Harvey Losee, who purchased it despite his family hoping that he become a doctor instead of an apple farmer. Below is an account of Harvey's son, John, remembering when he took over the farm in 1931.

"My Dad was a frustrated farmer for much of his adult life. His mother would not hear of the son of a doctor becoming a common farmer! He went through New York University Medical College and joined his brother in sharing his father's medical practice. But when the opportunity offered he bought half of an abandoned farm on Rockefeller Lane and proceeded to clear it, plant and cultivate it, and eventually to set it out in orchards. When his illness kept him from attending to the farm, the Red Hook Cold Storage Co. entered into a five-year contract to operate the farm on shares. Within two years of the contract to go, I went to work on the farm and at the end of the contract took over the farm operation."

John's father passed away within a few weeks of his return to Upper Red Hook. This farm, totaling 86.7 acres, was sold to Frank Francioli in 1948, along with some equipment and orchard supplies. The images below are from the 1940s, when the farm was under the operation of John.

Excerpt from the "Memoirs of John Losee," courtesy of Sarah K. Hermans.
002 714-red hook sign 2-26-41.jpg
013 2895 wealthy buds 5-6-48.jpg
018 811 paul smith + frank coon harvesting pickerel 5-13-41.jpg
020 1613 mulching young trees 7-12-43.jpg
021 xxx pruning 4-23-40.jpg
028 xxx filling sprayer 4-25-40.jpg
029 2890 one man sprayer 4-26-48.jpg
045 2167 frost in mcintosh block 4-7-45.jpg
054 511 ripe mcintosh 9-14-40.jpg
058 1951 boys picking jonathan 10-4-44.jpg
062 1673 pearl silverman picks apples 9-14-43.jpg
063 1031 brown hauling mcintosh 9-21-41.jpg
064 xxx mr b 10-7-39.jpg
066 1944 king packing 10-2-44.jpg
067 3000a packing cortlands in young orch 9-27-48.jpg
069 xxx inspector amos 10-7-39.jpg
071 1452 mcintosh culls 10-12-42.jpg
073 705 red hook cold storage 2-25-41.jpg
076 709 mcintosh on belt grader 2-25-41.jpg
077 706 mcintosh wayland belt 2-25-41.jpg
100 2980a sign on highway 8-28-48.jpg

All images of the Losee Farm are from the private collection of Sarah K. Hermans.