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I remember when it was owned by the McLellans, and they had a riding stable. I think they had some cattle as well. Their names were Alfred and Alma, and they had 2 daughters. Alma taught school, probably in Mapleton. Wonderful people!
Alma was my first grade teacher. Sweet lady.
Alfred ran that place as a Dairy for years, a couple of us from town and the Littlefield boys used to haul and stack hay in the barn, it fascinated us that he had every cow named and could call them by name and they would come.
The daughters were Gwen & Dawn, I spent time there as a 19-12 year old playing in the barn with Dawn. It is now owned by Alden Swanson. Mrs. McLellan taught 1st grade for many years at Mapleton. She was a dear lady, always smiling.
Not only did the cows have names but they knew which stall was theirs! After the dairy farm was the riding stable. Both cows and horses required a lot of hay, from West Chapman to Presque Isle. Several young men helped with the haying--yes, I remember you, Alan. Mom taught school in Castle Hill first, with all 8 grades in one room, and then first grade at Mapleton Elementary, retiring in 1975 after over 30 years.
What has changed at the farm in the past 50 years? The east side was sold to a young couple from NJ--they planted Christmas trees in the upper fields and had a pizza restaurant in PI for several years. The main farm was sold to 2 men from MA (Alden being one of them). The old barn, milk room and house are gone. The lower barn, originally dairy then horse barn, was converted by Alden & Cathy to living quarters. (The mobile home has long since gone.) Land next to the road is growing up in trees, hiding the mountain range behind it. I expect many of our riding trails are totally grown over as well. Alfred died in 1982, Alma in 1999, Gwen in 2011.
Thanks for the memories!
My history with this photo began in the mid-1950's when my parents, Alfred & Alma (Gardiner) McLellan, my sister, Gwen, and I moved to this farm from the Gardiner Homestead (just north of this property). At that time there was the house and the barn next to it. Dad was a potato farmer and also a dairy farmer, with 2-3 horses. The little building in front of the old barn was the milk room. As he progressed into dairy farming, leaving the potatoes behind, he built the barn to the left with an attached milk room.
There followed several years of selling milk to Maine Potato Growers in Presque Isle and hauling his milk there until the milk truck began coming to the farm. The mobile home across from the new barn was used by the hired man who helped with the cows. The cows gave way to horses as those numbers increased and Coolacre Farms Riding Stable came into being. Loring Air Force Base was active at that time and many of the military and their families and folks throughout The County came for lessons, trail rides and sleigh rides. A riding ring was constructed to the left of the mobile home.
The property consisted of 400 acres on the west side of the West Chapman Road, towards Squa Pan Range, and included places to pick fiddleheads, blueberries, raspberries, rhubarb and apples, to cut hay and ride horses. There were 80 acres on the east side of the road (part of Chandler Mountain) that included more rhubarb, riding trails and hay fields.