History of Silver Ranch
Travel in the Northern direction along Turnpike Road into Jaffrey, New Hampshire and you will notice two things. The first will be the view of Monadnock Mountain directly in front of you. The second will be the multiple properties owned by the Sawyer Families. There is a Sugar House and Farm Stand, the dairy farm with a silo painted with the words “Thank You”, the Jaffrey-Silver Ranch Airport and Silver Ranch Stables. The choice of the name “Silver Ranch” is based upon a paint selection as described on their website:
In the beginning: Roscoe Sawyer married Rita Parsons in 1914 and later moved to the current Silver Ranch farmhouse in 1917. He began a dairy operation. By about 1930 while in the wholesale and retail business and raising five children he purchased a horse. It took no time at all to realize that more horses were needed for the children (and parents). In order for the horses to earn their keep they were rented out to the public. As the rental business grew even more horses were needed. In 1932 Roscoe moved a barn to the current location to house their expanding equine business.
The name Silver Ranch came into being when Roscoe heard of a new aluminum paint guaranteed to rejuvenate the saddest of old lumber. When he looked into the product the company agreed to give him the paint as advertising. Every board was painted. Aluminum Ranch did not have a proper ring to it and so “Silver Ranch” was born.
David and Alfred, sons of Roscoe, continued to grow the business to include an airport in 1946, an ice cream stand in 1954 and in 1957 a “hot side” (restaurant) was added. This was later followed by a gift shop. In 1970 a Yankee Shop (antiques) was added followed by a Candy Shop.
David ran the restaurant and ice cream stand and his wife Betty was in charge of the gift shop.
Alfred took over the stable from his father, Roscoe. In time Alfred’s son, Lee A. Sawyer worked with him and then eventually took it over.Harvey Sawyer was in charge of managing the airport after David Sawyer.
In August of 1972 David Sawyer (son of Roscoe) was killed in an airplane crash on his way to Alaska. Being the business head of Silver Ranch it left a huge void. As a result the “Stand” (restaurant, ice cream, gift shop and candy shop were sold in the mid 70’s.
Today the 3rd generation is overseeing Silver Ranch. The stable, managed by Lee A. Sawyer and the airport is run by Harvey Sawyer and his wife Lee S. and they continue to provide services to the public. The 4th generation is preparing themselves for the task of carrying on and the 5th generation is growing up exposed to the many tasks, adventures and fun of a family farm.
Dave & Ellen (Sawyer) Hedman
I met Dave and Ellen over 10 years ago when they hosted Bluegrass Jams at the Silver Ranch Hall in Jaffrey. They founded the Monadnock Mountain Music Jaffrey group to promote traditional music and provide a venue to play traditional music. The venue has changed over the years and COVID-19 has moved the jam to an outdoor venue.
The Stagecoach , Sleigh and Hayrides
Dave is a pilot and helicopter pilot but learned all about horses when he was courting Ellen. For many years he ran the team of horses that pulled the stagecoach, winter sleigh and hayrides through the 350 acres of trails on the Sawyer property.
At the last music jam Dave offered to take me along some of the trails on a photography safari.
https://youtu.be/H8UAcV-iri4
The Jaffrey-Silver Ranch Airport
After a bit of time in the woods, we ended up crossing the runway at Jaffrey-Silver Ranch Airport. It was built on an depleted gravel pit and the runway is on an incline which is a bit unusual and challenging for pilots.
In the background you can see Mount Monadnock.
Circuses, Rodeos and Weddings
We passed a stand of swamp maples which were already showing signs of Autumn color. Nearby was a field that hosted traveling circuses in the 1940s.
We crossed Turnpike Road and drove to the top of a hill with a 360 degree view. An old stone covered cistern provides a site for weddings. At one time a windmill pumped water from a collection point below. Dave mentioned that the large field was a site for at least one rodeo.
Dave is a natural story teller and spend some time reciting the history of the place to a tourist who was hiking the trails.
The Polo Field
In my opinion the most scenic area of the property is the former Polo field just down a bit from the large field. The term bucolic comes to mind.
Boot Hill
Dave likes to tell stories and I imagine he told many to the people on the sleigh and hayrides. He told a made up story about a large rock inscribed as “Boot Hill” along the trail. Originally only a portion of the rock appeared in the middle of trail which caused problems for the sleigh and wheels of the hay wagon and stage coach. When they attempted to dig it out by hand they realized they needed something a bit more substantial. Now it marks a place in the trail, and a made up story about a man losing his boot in a snowstorm as he stumbled off to be lost forever.
Thanks Dave for the tour.
