Village approves environmental findings for Roscoe Smith land

During the December 19 Monroe Village Board meeting, the process of acquiring the Roscoe Smith home at 47 Lakes Road took another step forward. At the meeting the village board voted unanimously to accept the findings of an environmental assessment concerning the purchase of the 19.8 acres. This includes protecting and preserving the wetlands on the property. In addition, the village attorney mentioned that the eminent domain procedure will protect the stream that runs through the Roscoe Smith property and feeds into the Millponds.

Smith purchased the property for the home in 1907 and continued to expand it. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Roscoe William Smith to the village of Monroe. As the village board noted, Roscoe Smith was the man responsible for creating what is now Orange & Rockland and brought electricity to the area. The original power plant for the company was housed in Monroe and began producing electricity on February 8, 1906. At the time, Smith said, “In my lifetime, and in my adult life I have seen and helped electricity become one of the greatest servants of mankind.”

Smith ran his corporations differently than many at the time, and even today, often building and providing homes to the original power company’s employees, as well as medical services through his brother, a doctor, to any employee who needed to see one. During the early days of the power company, Smith took a salary on par with what his linemen were making, which was $75 a month in 1907 dollars, or just over $2,500 a month in 2023 dollars.

Roscoe Smith is also responsible for buying up the land that he then donated to create Smith Clove Park. He purchased the buildings for the original town and village halls. Smith also is responsible for the creation of Museum Village, providing many of the artifacts that he had personally collected throughout his lifetime. As part of the Monroe Improvement Association, Smith also spearheaded the creation of what is now Crane Park and the Millpond Park. There is an argument to be made that without Roscoe Smith, the Village of Monroe would look very different from what we know today.

Roscoe W. Smith’s life was a remarkable one given that he never finished high school and came from humble beginnings on the family farm. He once said to his daughter Margaret, “I think there is much more joy and happiness in doing something worthwhile and one of the best things to do is to keep busy and at something that really counts. There are many worthwhile things to do that give great joy and happiness in the doing and afterward.”