Zig's Health Farm
One of our best local Facebook
groups offered us a post at the start
of the year remembering the building
formerly standing at the east corner
of Main and Franklin Sts. That post
included a rather pink, tinted photo,
which tipped me off that it must have
been borrowed from the 1970 Tarry-
town Centennial booklet.
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Now, here, see the same wedge-
shaped Griffin Building, but pictured
later on in time, no doubt in the 1960s
(for reasons I will explain below). Prior
to Urban Renewal, it was, indeed,
located on the lower part of Main St.,
just across from the south end of
Orchard St.
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Due to its unusual shape, one might
think of it as Tarrytown´s mini-version
of NYC's Flatiron Building. This build-
ing was presumably built as a bank,
as that was indeed its function for
a number of years, until the bank
moved to the opposite corner of the
same intersection. It then became
the home of the "Tarrytown Demo-
cratic Club," as well as a tavern
(which I will describe further
below).
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This photo would look, perhaps,
like a relic of the 1950s, except
for that tell-tale window air con-
ditioner. (Prior to the 1960s, may
I surmise that these were less com-
mon in town?) Furthermore, look-
ing closely at the photo, I do
recognize the surname REEL,
displayed prominently.
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I remember Mr. A. Frank Reel as a
Congressional candidate in 1962. His
son--in my 5th grade class--freely
distributed ballpoint pens reading
"I'm for Reel." I have to admit that I
didn't realize that this was a play on
words (real) until years later. (Another
one of his children belongs to this
Facebook Group.) As for the tavern,
"(Doc) Zig's Health Farm" was definitely
not the vegetarian luncheonette that
one member here--as a kid--believed it
to be! Rather, it was a popular "water-
ing hole"--but not to be confused with
"Doc Brown's"--at the time, a nearby
bar on Orchard St.
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Zig's entrance sign can barely be made
out here, at the building's tip. The
tavern's knotty-pine interior made it
fancy enough for the occasional wed-
ding reception. Today, this end of
Franklin St.--seen here, bordered
with telephone polls--ends in a cul-
de-sac. It therefore stops shy of what
was once a four-cornered intersection
of Franklin, Orchard, and Main Streets.
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Photo credit: Marshall & Mascia, Tarry-
town and Sleepy Hollow in the 20th
Century (2010), p. 85.
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Much of the material contained in this
article was first published in the book--
G. Washington Slept Here; ©2021,
Notary Sojak; All Rights Reserved:
https://books.google.com/books?id=OG1rEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT15
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