Briarcliff Farms was a farm established in 1890 by Walter William Law in Briarcliff Manor, a village in Westchester County, New York. One of several enterprises established by Law at the turn of the 20th century, the farm was known for its milk, butter, and cream and also produced other dairy products, American Beauty roses, bottled water, and print media. At its height, the farm was one of the largest dairy operations in the Northeastern United States, operating about with over 1,000 Jersey cattle. In 1907, the farm moved to Pine Plains in New York's Dutchess County, and it was purchased by New York banker Oakleigh Thorne in 1918, who developed it into an Aberdeen Angus cattle farm. After Thorne's death in 1948, the farm changed hands several times; in 1968 it became Stockbriar Farm, a beef feeding operation. Stockbriar sold the farmland to its current owners in 1979.
The farm combined a practical American business model with the concept of a European country seat or manor, with cows being milked constantly, and with milk promptly chilled and bottled within five minutes, and shipped to stores in New York City each night. The farm was progressive, with sterile conditions, numerous employee benefits, good living conditions for livestock, and regular veterinary inspections to maintain a healthy herd. The farm also made use of tenant farming, established working blacksmith, wheelwright, and harness shops on-site, was located around Walter Law's manor house, and constructed numerous buildings in the Tudor Revival architectural style.
Briarcliff Farms was the original location for the School of Practical Agriculture and Horticulture, established by the New York State Committee for the Promotion of Agriculture in conjunction with Walter Law. The school's purpose was to teach students in farming, gardening, poultry-keeping, and other agriculture-related skills. The school moved to a farm near Poughkeepsie in 1903, and the school building was run as a hotel for two years until it became Miss Knox's School. After the building burned down in 1912, Miss Knox's School was relocated several times; since 1954, the Knox School has been located in St. James, New York.
History
James Stillman owned a small farm on Pleasantville Road since at least 1886. It was known as Briarcliff Farm after John David Ogilby's estate, Brier Cliff (itself named after Ogilby's family home in Ireland). In 1887 Stillman had a display at the Great Dairy and Cattle Show in New York City's Madison Square Garden, where he demonstrated setting milk, churning cream and making butter. In 1890, Walter Law began purchasing property in the present-day village of Briarcliff Manor as part of his desire for rest and recreation. That year, Law paid James Stillman $35,000 ($ in ) for his farm and renamed it Briarcliff Farms. In 1893, The New York Times reported that the 14th Duke of Veragua (a livestock farmer) and a large party visited the farm on the afternoon of June 16; at that time, the farm had about 330 cattle and 100 sheep. The party went from New York to Scarborough, proceeding by carriage to Briarcliff, and visited the farm's poultry yard, hennery and stables. After observing the farm's heifers and stallions, they went to the creamery to taste Briarcliff butter. The guests went to Law's Yonkers home, Hillcrest, for dinner before returning to New York. After the visit, the duke had said "Well, this is a perfect place. I am delighted with what I have seen."
In 1898 Law retired from the vice-presidency of W. & J. Sloane, moved with his family to the area and began devoting his time to agriculture. He rapidly added to his holdings, buying about forty parcels in less than ten years; by 1900, Law owned more than of Westchester County and was its largest individual landholder. Some previous owners became tenant farmers; Law received half of the hay and straw from a farm formerly owned by Jesse Bishop, and one-third of everything else. Law and Briarcliff Farms initially deepened the Pocantico River for , taking out rifts so the stream would flow and adjacent swamps would drain. Workers also cut rock and took out trees lining the swamps to reclaim land for farming.
Law found the soil poor, since it had been farmed for a half-century. The fields were bare, and cows gave poor-quality milk: "I had to begin at the bottom and repair the waste of fifty years." He improved the soil's fertility by arranging for manure from New York City streets and stables to be regularly brought to his farm; for four years, twenty carloads of manure a week were spread on the land. As a result, the farm's hay yield increased from two to five tons. Law also decided to improve the area's roads, giving them a base layer of large, closely packed stones and layers of top gravel. He developed his herd; at first the farm had weak cattle (many afflicted with tuberculosis) and "ordinary milk", but after Law's development the farm had strong cattle, healthy calves and an abundance of rich milk. Law hired Leonard Pearson (a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Pennsylvania) to check each cow every six months for tuberculosis and other diseases, exceeding New York City Board of Health standards.
Although Law had little knowledge or experience of farming at first, he had enough money to reach his goal of maximizing his dairy farm's quality and output. Law's farm had 500 workers tending cattle, pigs, chickens, Thoroughbred horses, pheasants, peacocks and sheep at its peak. In 1900, when the US government asked Briarcliff Farms to exhibit its milk, butter and cream at Paris' Exposition Universelle, the farm submitted raw, pasteurized, and sterilized milk; however, according to the French, "There is no use sending these, for your fresh milk keeps fresh". The farm contributed to the USDA Bureau of Animal Industry and the New York State Commission to the Paris Exhibition's joint exhibit, winning gold medals for its milk, cream, and butter and a silver medal for social benefit or economy. Concerned that the farm's milk had preservatives, French authorities requested an affidavit that no chemicals were added. Photographs by the US government of Briarcliff Farms' barns, farmland, Law's mottoes and employees were displayed in the exposition's Palace of Social Economy and Congress.
On September 2, 1901, the farm's dairy buildings were destroyed by fire. The cause of the fire (which was discovered in the dairy building's tower) was unknown, and the damage was covered by insurance. Law quickly arranged for a temporary dairy in a room of the electric plant which had a boiler for sterilization; by the afternoon, milk was processed as usual. A larger dairy building was planned closer to the railroad station for faster shipping.
When Briarcliff Manor was incorporated on November 21, 1902, Law owned all but two small parcels of the square-mile village and employed nearly all of its residents (around 100). He developed the village, establishing schools, churches, parks and the Briarcliff Lodge. The population grew, encouraging Law to incorporate the area as a village. A proposition was presented to the supervisors of Mount Pleasant and Ossining on October 8, 1902, that a area with a population of 331 be incorporated as the Village of Briarcliff Manor, and it was incorporated on November 21. That year Law's son, Walter Jr., joined his father and brother Henry in managing the farm and realty company; he was the second village president, in office from 1905 to 1918.
In April 1906, Governor General of Canada Albert Grey and US Representative and farm architect Edward Burnett drove up from New York City and toured the farm as guests of Walter Law. According to Briarcliff Outlook, they "expressed hearty approval of Briarcliff ways".
Relocation to Pine Plains
Law developed his Briarcliff Manor property primarily as a corporation until 1907 when, due to rising property values and falling agricultural development in Westchester County, he purchased twelve farms—totaling —for Briarcliff Farms on both sides of the Pine Plains-Stanford Road (present-day New York State Route 82) in Pine Plains and began developing his Briarcliff Manor properties for houses, churches and schools. Law's general manager, George W. Tuttle (who had worked at Briarcliff Farms since 1901), arranged the Pine Plains purchases and the construction of new barns, a creamery, a power station and other buildings. The barns used Franklin Hiram King's King ventilation system, and the concrete dairy building cost about $25,000 ($ in ). The farm's well, from the barn, was deep and in diameter.
In 1907 and 1908, the farm and many of its workers moved to Pine Plains. Although preliminary steps in the relocation were primarily small, the final October 1908 transfer used two trains to move 300 cattle. The rest of the cattle were transferred a day later, to the farm's main station (between Pine Plains and Attlebury on the Central New England Railway) at Barn A. During Briarcliff Manor's first automobile race in 1908, the barns were used for mechanic crews and each driver had his own crew weeks before the race. In 1909 Law formed the Briarcliff Realty Company to sell the original Briarcliff Manor property. He sold the Pine Plains property in 1918 and died in 1924.
On October 9, 1918, New York banker Oakleigh Thorne and several partners purchased the Briarcliff Farms property, cattle and dairy buildings for $500,000 ($ in ). Thorne began breeding Aberdeen Angus cattle under the Briarcliff Farms name, and the farm remained well known for its beef. Thorne and W. Alan McGregor began the herd by importing cattle from Scotland in 1925, and enlarged it through breeding. The Aberdeen Angus industry became prominent in the United States due to Briarcliff Farms; in 1955, about 95 percent of US Angus cattle were from Briarcliff stock.
Thorne hired William Harper Pew for Pew's knowledge of livestock bloodlines. At the time, the farm had over and 1,000 purebred Aberdeen Angus cattle (the largest Aberdeen Angus herd in the country). Pew began eighteen Angus herds in Dutchess County, and was a director of the American Angus Association. At the International Livestock Show in 1927, the farm had the International Grand Champion Female, and in 1930 it had the 1930 International Grand Champion Bull. Because of the 1931 and 1933 expositions, Thorne became first to win a grand champion twice, with two of his livestock awarded International Grand Champion Steers. At the 1934 Dutchess County Fair's beef-cattle show, 100 cattle and steers were exhibited. Briarcliff Aristocrat, a summer yearling weighing , was named the grand champion steer. The grand champion bull was the farm's Briarcliff Barbarian 8th, the first-prize senior yearling of the 1933 International Livestock Show. The grand champion female was Briarcliff Mighonne 10th, the first-prize senior yearling heifer of the 1933 international show.
The farm affected a number of herds, and the Briarcliff prefix is still seen in many pedigrees. In 1935 the portion of the farm east of the road was sold to Henry Jackson, who named it Bethel Farms. After Thorne's death in 1948, Briarcliff Farms changed hands a number of times. In 1968 it became Stockbriar Farm, a beef-feeding operation. Stockbriar tried to sell the farm several times, and it nearly became a county zoo. In 1979, Stockbriar sold the farmland to the Conservation and Preservation Association (CAPA) for $2.1 million ($ in ).