The history of Saratoga County's Bacon Hill

Jul 21, 2023

Bacon Hill (photo courtesy: Saratoga County History Center)

by: Sara Rizzo

Posted: Jun 6, 2023 / 04:15 PM EDT

Updated: Jun 6, 2023 / 04:16 PM EDT

BACON HILL, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Saratoga County History Center recently released its second video of its series titled "Forgotten Crossroads of Saratoga County." The video focused on Bacon Hill, a farming community in the town of Northumberland.

Bacon Hill is a community that was settled over 200 years ago. Generations later, many families that settled in the area are still living and farming there today.

The video was made possible with funding secured from the Clear Echo Farm, King Brothers Dairy, King Wealth Management Group, Thomas Poultry Farm, Stonebridge Iron and Steel, Inc., and Welcome Stock Farm. All of this information can be found in the "Bacon Hill: A Forgotten Crossroads" video on YouTube.

In 1794, Lathrop Pope and Ebenezer Bacon arrived in what was first called Fiddler's Corners or Fiddletown. Bacon opened a tavern and a store on 63 acres and Lathrop opened a blacksmith shop. Soon after, the area became known as Pope's Corners.

Bacon died in 1817 and Pope moved to Essex County. The area officially became known as Bacon Hill after he died, but was still referred to as Pope's Corners for another 30 years.

Before Bacon and Pope, the VanDerwerkers settled there in 1784. Second generation Martin VanDerwerker's brother and his third generation son established large farms in Bacon Hill. Years later, Grace VanDerwerker served as the Saratoga County Historian from 1938 to 1958.

In 1836, Henry Wagman Peck married Melinda VanDerWerker and they brought property in Bacon Hill. A generation later, George Henry Peck bought a farm and married Sarah Caroline Carmer. The farm was inherited by their second son and today is Clear Echo Farm.

The Deyoe Family moved to Bacon Hill in 1840. Daniel Deyoe Jr. bought a 100 acre farm and his children went on to serve in prominent positions in the community. Daniel Deyoe lll was a Saratoga County Sheriff. The farm was later sold to someone outside the family.

Bacon Hill once had a hotel, a post office inside a tailor shop, blacksmiths, a wagon shop, a schoolhouse, and the Bacon Hill Grange for dinner and square dancing. The Bacon Hill Cemetery is the resting place of Bacon Hill's founding families.

In 1818, the Northumberland Meeting House Society met and decided to build a house of worship in or near Bacon Hill. The church was built in 1820. The Dutch Reformed Church was moved back in 1950 and in 2014, the steeple was rebuilt. The Bacon Hill Reformed Church is led by Reverend Janet Meyer Vincent.

Ebenezer Bacon's abandoned house stood until 1970 when Donald Lee Griffin Sr. became interested in it. The home was sold to him for $1. Griffin was able to renovate the house and move it to Washington County. He currently lives in it today.

Bill Peck is currently serving his seventh two-year term as Northumberland Town Supervisor. Peck is a sixth generation dairy farmer at Welcome Stock Farm. He is descended from both the VanDerwerker and Peck families.

Bacon Hill has many business in and around the area, many of which are owned by descendants of the founding families. Most, if not all of these businesses hope to continue through future generations.

Stone Bridge Iron and Steel, located in Gansevoort, provides structural steel and metal fabrication services. The business is run by Brian Carmer and his brother Britt Carmer.

The Thomas Poultry Farm, run by the Thomas family, has been selling eggs since 1948. The farm delivers eggs throughout the area and Stewart's Shops gets all of their eggs from the farm.

Winney's Blueberry Farm was started by Byron Winney's grandfather and continued on for generations. Winney died in January, but the Saratoga County History Center interviewed him for the video before then. He is buried in Bacon Hill Cemetery.

Welcome Stock Farm is owned by Bill Peck, his brother Neil Peck and his father William Peck. It's a sixth generation dairy operation. They milk 1,000 cows compared to 40 years ago when they were only milking 85. Clear Echo Farm is owned by Kevin Peck and is on 1,000 acres. The farm expanded in 2022 to have 500 cows.

Kings-Ransom Farm is a 3,000 acre farm owned by Jeff King. The farm land is used to feed its 1,000 cows. The milk from the cows is in part used for King Brothers Dairy, which started in 2010 and is owned by Jan King and his family.

The Saratoga County History Center's first "Forgotten Crossroads" focused on Rock City Falls, a hamlet located in the town of Milton. You can read more about the hamlet on the NEWS10 website and watch the video on YouTube.

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