Ralph Fedele sits at a desk in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse, which he led the effort to relocate to downtown Millerton.
Starting in 2015, the building was disassembled and moved — piece-by-piece — thanks to the efforts of a local organization called the Friends of the Irondale Schoolhouse and a Millerton resident that has dedicated much of his life to the community and preserving local landmarks.
That man is Ralph Fedele, a revered figure in the community both for his efforts to restore, maintain and educate people about the former schoolhouse and for more than a decade serving on the North East Town Board.
Fedele moved to Millerton from New York City 37 years ago, in 1988, and has since worn many hats – volunteer, historian, advocate, elected official – yet he still doesn’t believe he’s earned that title.
“I’m a transplant,” he said matter of factly. “I’m from the city.”
Years after settling in Millerton full time, Fedele was driving north on Route 22 when he spotted an old, classic building and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It was in dire straits,” he recalled. “Right on the road, but beautiful. I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be a great building to move into the village?’”
That moment would eventually turn into Fedele’s lasting legacy.
Fedele joked that people may have thought he was crazy during the lengthy restoration. “I was a tyrant,” he said with a laugh. “I really made sure that we were able to get it done.” The effort required coordination with the state, the county, village and town officials, and his newly assembled nonprofit board.
As a self-proclaimed history buff, Fedele didn’t stop at the restoration. He found a list of students in old records and did what any determined historian would do. He opened the telephone book and started making calls.
Eventually, he tracked down one of the schoolhouse’s original students – Mary (Mechare) Leitch – who, at the age of 101, returned to the building after renovations were complete.
“It was a marvelous time,” smiled Fedele. “I was so happy to see her.”
North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan, left, and Mary Leitch, who was the last living Irondale Schoolhouse student until her death in 2025.Provided
Leitch died on Dec. 24, 2025, at the age of 103.
Leitch was born in Millerton in 1922 and grew up on Winchell Mountain in the hamlet of Irondale. Her early schooling was at Irondale’s 1858 one-room schoolhouse until it closed in 1930. She was proud of having been the last person to attend the school. From the third grade onward, she attended school in the Millerton school district.
“If you sit still, you will rust,” was a favorite Leitch saying, perhaps inspired by the Irondale district and the area’s iron industry.
Leitch delighted in the outdoors and in the company of animals and people, caring for many dogs—especially Jack Russells—and cherishing the horses that were part of her long, vibrant life. An avid sportswoman, she enjoyed deer hunting and fishing, keeping her licenses current right up until her passing. She was a longtime member of both the Jack Russell Club of America and the Dutchess County Professional Horsemen’s Association.
In 1958, she married William “Billy” Leitch of Millbrook, a professional horseman, sharing a love of the sporting life and enjoying active membership in the Millbrook Hunt Club. Billy pre-deceased her in 2015.
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Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton’s Main Street in 1985.
Second-generation co-owner Suzanna Hermans, daughter of Oblong’s founder Dick Hermans, said the event was more than just a party.
“We wanted to celebrate our friends, neighbors and generations of customers who have kept us here for 50 years,” she said. “It’s a thank-you to the people of Millerton, in particular, without whom we’d never be here.”
The store’s history was highlighted and celebrated leading up to the birthday bash.
Oblong co-founder Dick Hermans originally opened the store in 1975 with a vision of creating a welcoming space for lovers of good books and music. With a $10,000 loan, he and founding partner Holly Nelson opened their first 400-square-foot shop on Main Street — now home to the soon-to-open Black Rabbit dispensary.
As the business grew, Oblong expanded into Harold’s Apparel — now Cottage+Camp — in 1981, and eventually purchased its current building. To this day, staff remember walking the books across the street by hand during the move.
The current home of Oblong Books in Millerton was an antiques store before Dick Hermans moved in. Provided
Oblong Jr. — a children’s bookstore located next to Oblong in what was once a shoemaker’s storefront – came later, as did their second location in Rhinebeck.
Over 50 years, Oblong navigated shifts in technology, consumer behavior and the broader economy.
In the 1990s, the rise of big-box chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders contributed to a steep decline in independent bookstores across the country. Then, the emergence of eBooks and Amazon further threatened smaller shops.
More recently, bookstores are facing the threat of censorship and efforts to limit access to books.
Through it all, Suzanna Hermans says it has been the support of the local community that helps Oblong weather these industry-wide changes.
“One thing that spans the whole length of it is our incredible staff that has worked for us over these last 50 years,” she says.
Since its founding, Oblong has employed more than 200 people — many of whom have stayed for five to 40 years. “Folks tend to stay a long time, which is an incredible testament to their admiration for bookselling,” she says. “But we also work really hard to be a great place to work.”
Over the decades, Oblong has also become a destination for top-tier literary events featuring celebrity authors, local favorites and emerging voices.
“We love our authors,” Hermans says. “We’ve built up a reputation that you can send your best-touring authors here to the Hudson Valley and they’re going to sell their books at our events.”
Though much has changed over the years, the heart of Oblong Books remains the same: books, music and community.
Meg Musgrove, left, and Jessica Rose Lee opened Rosemary Rose Finery on May 1.
Sitting side by side on Main Street’s curve, Black Rabbit Farms and Muanjai Tea will be the newest businesses on the block. The respective owners expect to open this summer.
Black Rabbit Farms owner Douglas Broughton has been cultivating marijuana since the 1990s, but its recent legalization led him to pursue a retail space. He found a location in the former Demitasse space at 32 Main St.
The tea shop, the brainchild of Kanchisar Jiradhanaiphat and John Schildbach, will offer Thai tea classics such as pink milk, but Schildbach was quick to clarify that “this isn’t going to be a bubble tea shop.” The menu will also feature Thai tea ice cream floats, lattes and matcha drinks.
Muanjai Tea is taking over the former Candy-Os space. It became available after Candy-Os owner Gillian Osnato decided to combine her inventory of sweets with the T-Shirt Farm, her other business on the block. “I was skeptical about how to merge them, but I think it worked,” Osnato said. “There are two different sets of equipment, and each has its own set of challenges, but everyone seems to be excited. ”
Then there’s Jones & Daughters, a boutique offering apparel, jewelry, home goods, and gifts next door to the Moviehouse. It opened last month in the former Geary Gallery Space. “We wanted to create a place to shop that felt as thoughtful as this community,” co-founder Constance Edwards said. “The perfect outfit, something beautiful for your home, a gift that actually means something.”
Shoppers crowd Jones & Daughters’ new space on Millerton’s Main Street for the boutique’s grand opening on Friday, May 29.Aly Morrissey
More jewelry and artisan goods are available at Rosemary Rose Finery. Founder Jessica DeCarlo Lee moved into the space in May. She shares it with Meg Musgrove, who runs Common Place Craft Workshop. The result is a combination workshop and retail space that has received rave reviews and return customers. Herbal medicines, screen-printing, and pottery are among the store’s offerings.
Millerton’s recent business growth is becoming increasingly visible. After opening last year, local market Tri-Corner F.E.E.D. and farm-to-table restaurant Pasture Kitchen continue to thrive.
Tri-Corner has carved a niche in a town in need of groceries. It offers farm-fresh meats, seasonal vegetables, prepared foods, coffee and baked goods. “We really want to reduce barriers for people to be able to afford nutritious, local food,” said Blake Myers, director of food programs at the Tri Corner F.E.E.D. Market. “Anybody can come in and shop.”
Pasture Kitchen, formerly Tallow, survived a rebrand on the strength of its expanded and locally-sourced menu. The restaurant blends popular classics like burgers and chicken sandwiches with steak frites, burrata salads, and a rotating wine selection.
But while some new tenants were drawn to Millerton’s rising profile, others are interested in preserving its history.
Some are longtime residents interested in preserving and repurposing the town’s iconic buildings — like Jason Jobson, Richard Lambertson, and Christophe Pourny of Dutchess Trading Company. They opened in the old Terni’s storefront in 2024, renovating the space topreserve one of the town’s most historic structures.
The trio has converted the mirror-lined space — which has served as a cafe, boarding house, and tackle shop over its hundred year history — to a home goods and gifts store. “We love the town because there are so many people that have been coming here their whole lives,” said Jobson. “We get a lot of people from the Berkshires, too,” added Lambertson. “They come up Route 22 and stop for lunch.”
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