A BRIEF HISTORY OF TOMPKINS' COUNTY'S COMMUNES PART 1


	From the late sixties to the early eighties Tompkin's County was the home of many
intentional communities. Some were started as farms and functioned as an economic unit,
others were religious communities and others were group households. Some properties were
communally owned, while other groups were allowed to squat in exchange for improvements
made on the property. Others just rented. Some people look back at it as the best time of their
lives, while for others it was a struggle or just a waste of time. All seem to have taken
valuable lessons with them into their daily lives.
	Joanie Spielholz came to Dawes Hill in the summer of 1972. She says that Dawes Hill was
started in the summer of 69 back in the hills of West Danby, "When a bunch of graduates from
the Cornell class of 1968 took a walk along 6 mile creek a year after graduation and asked
what are we doing with our lives?"
	"They decided to start a farm together. Nobody would sell them a commune. So two couples
purchased the land in their name."
	Initially, "It wasn't a farm at all. It was a hunting cabin and pond. We cleared the land and
developed 65 acres."
	Bob Kaputkin lived at Dawes Hill and says, "I loved living there. I liked the fact that we could
be a functioning unit, learn and be separate from the rest of the world. In alot of ways it was
very successful experimental living. I disliked it if someone left the fence pliers out in the
field, but in general I liked it."
	Kaputkin says that people started communes because, "There was alot of disillusionment
with the mainstream world. The Vietnam War was going on." And, "The idea that you could
control things and learn was very satisfying. We were from urban and suburban backgrounds
and we wanted to learn new skills."
	Spielholtz says, "From the very beginning there was a choice that we wanted a common
space. We added a kitchen and a shower to the original cabin. To get water we drilled a well.
The water was pumped by windmill or hand. We had no electricity, only propane for lighting.
Instead of an indoor toilet, we had an outhouse."
	Spielholz says, "We ate as a group of 15 around a table. As a 2 year old, my son Zeke, learned
to eat his food fast or someone else like his Dad would eat it."
	There were cows, chickens, goats and sheep and a very large garden over an acre that sold
vegetables. Dawes Hill was one of the original Farmer's Market vendors. And Kate Mason, of
Dawes Hill, was market manager for many years."
	"We had a barnraising in 1973. Hippies from 3 counties, old farmers and all of Newfield came
to help. People would come out to give advice which we were happy to take. Some of our best
friends were 80 year olds who liked the idea of young people farming. They laughed at us too."
	Kaputkin says, "Forgetting cars, pretty much we lived around the turn of the century."
Although "We used propane for refrigerating."
	"We had it more together (than some of the other communes) because of force of personality.
The people who started it made a commitment. Nobody wandered into Dawes Hill, we never
hosted people with drug problems and we also had separate houses which is probably why we
were able to live together. This was not like going into an apartment with two other people.
This was about committing to a lifestyle, we were functioning economically. From time to
time there were part time jobs and there were people in school part of the time."
	Kaputkin adds, "I lived there 8 years." Over that time he observed, "Alot of people worked on
alot of things on a very high level of skill." But, "There weren't leaders." Which suited him, "I
personally couldn't be in a leadership type structure.  There were people who had skills that
were recognized and who's opinions were more valued. People who were farmers and
carpenters. But they still had to show us why their way was better. I had a friend who was
born in 1890, he was our horse guru."
	"It's amazing how much collective knowledge there is out there and we were a good place for
this knowledge to come together."
	"We really had the ability to change things. We constantly tinkered with the model."
	According to Spielholz, "We designed and sold yurt plans through the Whole Earth Catalog. It
was a service more than a business, but it generated alot of visitors. Plenty of people also
came to see hippies naked. They were disappointed."
	Spielholz adds, "We had great music, alot of people would bring their instruments. We had no
electricity, so I never saw the Brady Bunch."
	Mainstream society went on despite this. Spielholz reminisces about, "The moaning of our
parents. My parents were more patient, they said it was a phase." On the other hand, "Steve
Zimmerman, my partner, was plagued by parental grief. 'For this you got a schloarship' They
would say.
	He got a full engineering scholarship. Then he dropped out after one year and took a
motorcycle trip. They convinced him to return, but this time they had to pay for it because he
decided to study philosophy."
	"He ended up doing  alot of civil engineering at Dawes Hill. But he figured out how to build
windmills instead of spaceships."
	Dawes Hill kept a log book in the outhouse which featured amongst other things, running
commentaries on Nixon's resignation. Kaputkin notes that the log book was helpful because,
"You could vent frustrations without having to confront people. You knew everybody was going
to use it."
	"The only time we watched tv was Nixon's resignation. One of the people brought a tv home
from the hospital where they worked and we plugged it into the generator." 
	Spielholtz says, "The land was sold in 1981." The commune broke up because, "People had
moved on to other things in their lives"
	"The money that was acquired from the sale went to people based on how long they were
there. Some were happier than others."
	Kaputkin says, " Most people were there for 6 years, a few nine. I don't think anyone ever
thought it would be a permanent thing." 
	Spielholtz says, "Everyone went off to do neat things. We looked at it as jumping off point.
Most of us, in our middle age, have become productive citizens."
	Spielholz says "I didn't get there till 1972. I was there through 1977, then I came back for
the summers. I was doing beekeeping, and I was spending the winters in Florida with my
partner Steve Zimmerman. That's where Dawes Hill honey came from."
	"You're talking about a long time ago. Our perspectives are very nostalgic. You have a group of
people who are still very good friends. You still have people who won't talk to each other too
and you have selective memory."
	Kaputkin says, "I learned alot of traditional farming skills like working with animals,
cooking, plumbing, organizational skills, about working with people and even business skills.
Many things I never would have learned other wise."
	Kathy Morris visited Dawes Hill while it was active and spent a winter there alone shortly
after it had been abandonned. She says, "It was the most beautiful place I ever lived. There
was a one acre garden. The food had a life energy that was like no other food I'v ever eaten."
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR