The Squire farm was originally built by the Whitson family. A windmill for pumping water was erected in 1907 by Irving Squire. This was not the first wind machine on the property. According to an 1859 map, the Whitson family operated a grist mill there in the 1850s. It would be used as a post office and a polling place in the late 19th Century.
The farm produced carrots, cabbages, onions, beets,
potatoes, spinach, corn, cucumber and dill. The cucumber and dill were grown
specifically for Karp & Fueschel pickleworks. The entire farm covered 330
acres extending along both sides of Old Country Road.
The farmhouse had seven bedrooms, two baths, a
poolroom, a parlor, kitchen, and a dining room. During World War I, a teacher
at Bushwick High School arranged with the farm for boys from the city would
come to the farm and learn how to work it. They called them “farm camp boys.”
The boys cooked and served their own meals in a separate building which they
called B. H. S. Camp Squire. The boys would plow, seed the ground, and thin and
weed the row for harvesting. The goods from the farm were sent overseas to the
boys serving.
No trace is left of the windmill or dwelling.
Source:
Gibbs, Iris & Alonzo. “B. H. S. Camp Squire.” Long Island Forum. March, 1973
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