Agricultural Hotel -
In 1888 Henry Ashe and his father James purchased 260 acres and a
six-room boarding house built in 1836, presumably from Walter Baker,
operator of the Baker House adjacent to the fairgrounds. By 1906, after
making many additions and improvements, they changed the name to the Agricultural Hotel,
likely because it was adjacent to the fairgrounds where the Warren
County Agricultural Society held its annual fair. (The last County fair
held there was in 1929.) Rumor has it that Teddy Roosevelt and his
staff stayed Agricultural Hotel, c.
1890, with staff turned out. (J. Hastings collection. ) there. In
October of 1922, a radiotelephone installed in the hotel allowed the
citizens of Warrensburg to hear the World Series for the first time.
After Maurice Ashe inherited the hotel from his father Henry, it became Ashe's Hotel.
Maurice died in 1972 leaving the property to Goldy Hitchock, marking
the end of an eighty-four year family ownership. In 1987, after several
owners including James and Claire O'Neill, John and Bob
Abbale purchased the property and it continues under their ownership.
It is believed to be the longest continually operating hotel
establishment in New York State.
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 Maurice Ashe (Museum photo)
Maurice Ashe was born on January 26, 1893. After his father's death in 1922, he assumed operation of the Agricultural Hotel on Hudson Street, renaming it Ashe's Hotel. During his life, he was active in the American Legion, New York State, and National Hotel Association, War-rensburg Fire Commission (Sec-retary), Glens Falls Knights of Colum-bus, Glens Falls Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), and Warrensburg Cem-etery Association. He was a Trustee of the Richards Library. He died on June 27, 1972. A generous bequest contributed to major renovations of the Library in 1974. .
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Henry Ashe (Museum collection)
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Henry S. Ashe was born in Thurman, NY in 1858. His parents were James H. and Johanna (Lowe) Ashe. In 1888, he and his father James came to Warrensburgh and purchased what would become the Agricultural Hotel. The property was purchased from Walter Baker who owned and oper-ated the Baker House next to the fairgrounds on Hudson Street. Mr. Baker was a professional trainer of horses. Three years later Henry married Katie O'Hearn, and they had two sons, James and Maurice. Henry conducted many horse races at the fairgrounds, which became known as Ashland Park. He also served as assessor of the town from around 1916 to 1920. In 1913 he had his left leg, and then in 1916, his right leg, amputated because of “blood poisoning." He died in 1922.
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Ashland Park - Beginning in 1873, an area south and west of Hudson Street between what is now Woodward and Lake avenues became known as Ashland Park. Each summer an agricultural fair with horse and stock car races, stage shows, various contests, a parade and spectacular fireworks was held. Various organizations in town sponsored the annual festivities. Horse racing continued to be popular. In later years, it was a popular stock car racetrack. In the late 1960s the area was subdivided into streets and building lots. New homes sprouted, leaving Ashland Park only a memory.
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Crowd assembled at Ashland Park grandstand for a military band concert, c.1905. (Richards Library collection)
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The Paddock, a dine and dance club managed by Curtis Lansing, opened on June 15, 1938. It was situated on the old fairgrounds off Hudson Street, just east of the grandstand. The interior scheme was grey and red with a forty-six by twenty-eight foot dance floor, one of the largest in northern New York. Dining tables seating more than 200 people were placed around the dance floor. At one end of the room was a large platform for the orchestra and entertainers. From the dining room, one passed through an opening resembling a large horseshoe into a handsomely appointed bar, with indirect lighting and modern equipment. Adjoining the bar was the kitchen capable of preparing anything from a sandwich to a banquet. The grounds were landscaped with trees, shrubs and flowering plants. The opening night featured a dance band, Chet Nelson’s Music, that had just finished an engagement at the Hotel Bradford Penthouse in Boston. There were also comedy and dance acts featured in Paramount and Warner Bros. movie shorts that year. Reservations for opening night were so great that a second opening night was scheduled. Chicken and Steak dinners were $1.00 and no cover charge. In September of 1942 a benefit was held there to raise money for gifts for men in service. Among the entertainers was Imogene Coca, then a performer at Green Mansions (and later co-star with Sid Caesar in TV's Show of Shows). Later managed by Ann and Beecher Baker, an advertisement in 1947 listed square dancing every Saturday night with Art Pratt, a local fiddler and caller, and in 1957 another advertised round and square dancing with the Jughead Harris Band.
