Question: By today’s standards, the gentleman mowing the lawn is overdressed for the task. That may be because the photo was planned in advance to be used on a commercially available postcard. Can you identify the location? Do you know anything about the gentleman in the picture?
Last week’s answer: Seven community organizations were represented on the “Welcome” sign featured in last week’s photo. The organizations are, top row, from left: Kiwanis, Moose Lodge, Odd Fellows, Veterans of Foreign Wars; bottom row: Jaycees, Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce and the Optimists Club. Only three of the organizations remain active in the community today: the Kiwanis, VFW Post 153 and the Chamber of Commerce.
The title “World Pheasant-Dog Capital” was coined by the “Master Sign Committee” of the Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce in 1964. Since 1950 Baldwinsville had hosted high profile pheasant dog field trials on the lands known as the Three Rivers Game Management Area.
The more than 2,500 acres was acquired by the New York State Department of Conservation following World War II. Less than 15 years earlier, the property had been owned by farmers who were forced to abandon their land to make room for a top secret munitions plant. Now it became a breeding habitat for wildlife and a recreational area for hunters, fishermen and nature lovers.
The “World Pheasant-Dog Capital” signage disappeared sometime in the 1980s but national bird dog field trials continue to be held yet today at the Three Rivers Game Management Area. The 60th National Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship was held at the Three Rivers property on Sixty Road only two months ago. The event offered a total purse of $4,500 with both native and specially bred birds available. In keeping with the tradition of these events, only blank pistols with plugged barrels are permitted. No birds are actually shot during these contests.
Mike Williams correctly identified the organizations listed on the sign, as well as those that are no longer in operation. Meanwhile, Steve McMahon provided even more information about the village’s former nickname. He wrote the following in an email:
“In 1947, New York state acquired from the federal government the northwesternmost 2,500 acres of what was formerly known during WWII as the ‘NYS Ordinance Works’ (aka ‘The Project’). There, NYS established a game sanctuary, known first as the ‘Conservation Commission Game Sanctuary’ and later the ‘Three Rivers Game Management Area.’ The NYS Bird Dog Association held its first field trial at Three Rivers in 1950, which later became the National Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship. In 1952, Three Rivers began hosting the National Open Pheasant Dog Championship, the American Field Pheasant Dog Futurity and the National Amateur Pheasant Dog Championship. Because the country’s four field trial championships for pheasant dogs all relocated to the Three Rivers Game Management Area, The Gazette & Farmers’ Journal (which later merged with The Messenger) announced on Sept. 26, 1957, that Baldwinsville had been named the new ‘Pheasant Dog Capital of the World.’ This news prompted the local Chamber of Commerce in September of 1964 to add the line ‘World Pheasant-Dog Capital’ to all of its signs leading into the village of Baldwinsville. While it’s not clear when or why these field trial championships left Three Rivers for greener pastures, the signs remained for at least 25 more years.”
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
