A Brief History of the Comeau Property
Richard Heppner, Woodstock Town Historian
While Native Americans once traversed trails along the Sawkill Creek that borders the property, much of the current 78 acres that constitutes the Comeau property served as farmland following Woodstock’s founding in 1787. Subsequent to a visit by Kate and Edgar Eames to Woodstock in 1909 - at the invitation of the artist Margaret Goddard - the Eames purchased the property and began construction of their home under the direction of noted architect Frank Wallis. Incorporating styles derived from the Arts and Crafts movement as well as early Hudson Valley Dutch, the original Eames home now houses a number of Woodstock's town offices
With the deaths of Edgar (1917) and Kate (1929) their daughter, Marion, assumed ownership of the property. Marion, who became well known about town as an excellent vocalist and musical accompanist, was also a member of the Woodstock Club, which played an integral role in the founding of the Woodstock Library and other town-related services. In 1931 Marion married local attorney Martin Comeau. During World War II, Comeau would serve as the chairman of the Woodstock Defense Committee, overseeing air raid drills and emergency services. It was also during World War II that the Comeau property, as it became known following the couple's marriage, became a scene of great activity as victory gardens were planted on a variety of plots around the property.
Marion Eames would pass away in 1971, leaving a bereaved Martin behind. Unbeknownst to most Woodstockers, title to the property, following Marion's death, passed to the Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. Though he continued living in the home, Martin Comeau, according to historian Alf Evers, began a slow retreat from the world. Eventually shuttering the home's living room, Comeau rarely entered the space he and Marion had so enjoyed.
With Martin Comeau's death in 1979, Woodstock Supervisor, Val Cadden and the Woodstock Town Board had the foresight to pursue purchasing the property from the Christian Science Church. So it was, also in 1979, that Woodstock voters approved a resolution to purchase the property for use by town government and the citizens of Woodstock. Despite controversies over the years as to the direction and use of the property, the future protection of the Comeau was assured in 2009 following a town-wide referendum placing the property under a conservation easement overseen by the Woodstock Land Conservancy. In 2011, as required by the easement, the Comeau Stewardship Advisory Committee was formed by the Woodstock Town Board to monitor the care and use of the property.
Today, as it embodies both the ghosts of the past and the spirit of the future, the Comeau property represents the collective commitment of our community toward the preservation of the land upon which Woodstock's unique story continues to unfold.
