New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

John Conway

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian and teaches a class on Sullivan County history at SUNY-Sullivan.

When Sullivan County Was A Sportsman’s Paradise

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Callicoon Erie Railroad Train Station in Sullivan CountyLong before the Ontario and Western Railway touted the healing environment that was Sullivan County beginning in the 1880s, the Erie Railroad had been established along the county’s western edge. By 1850, the Erie had been completed through the county, and it was largely through its promotional efforts that the upper Delaware Valley began to receive notice as “a sportsmen’s paradise.”

By the 1870s, hundreds of people were traveling each weekend to dozens of resorts in the approximately 60-mile-long valley from the Delaware Water Gap to Narrowsburg. These people were drawn here by the river, lakes, and streams. They came to fish and to boat and to hunt. [Read more…] about When Sullivan County Was A Sportsman’s Paradise

The Real Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

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Jean CarrollIt seems as if a number of those who chose to celebrate April as National Humor Month last month by taking in this columnist’s presentation of “Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Borscht Belt and American Comedy” at the Ethelbert Crawford Public Library in Monticello got more than they were expecting. [Read more…] about The Real Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

New York State & Washington’s Cherry Trees

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jokichi takamineOn March 27th, 1912, the first two of thousands of Japanese cherry trees were planted along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC by First Lady Helen Taft, the wife of President William Howard Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, the wife of the Japanese Ambassador to the United States.  [Read more…] about New York State & Washington’s Cherry Trees

Not Until 1937 Could Women Serve On Juries in New York

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J. Maxwell KnappWomen’s inexorable march toward equality in politics and government in this country has been one of small steps, and there have been many obstacles to overcome. Sometimes in looking back, it is difficult to believe that certain milestones along the journey took so long to achieve. For example, it wasn’t until 1937 that women were eligible to serve on juries in New York State. [Read more…] about Not Until 1937 Could Women Serve On Juries in New York

The Barryville Family School for Young Ladies

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Margaret Bross ThomasChauncey Thomas was one of the most prominent residents of the Upper Delaware River Valley in the 19th century, a successful entrepreneur who, among other accomplishments, built the first suspension bridge connecting Barryville in the town of Highland, Sullivan County, NY and Shohola, PA, and envisioned the Shohola Glen Amusement Park that was eventually built by bluestone magnate John Fletcher Kilgore and attracted tourists from far and wide.

One of Thomas’ first and most ambitious projects was undertaken with his first wife, Margaret Bross Thomas, and was ultimately unsuccessful. It was the Barryville Family School for Young Ladies. [Read more…] about The Barryville Family School for Young Ladies

A Catskills Copperhead Strikes Against Lincoln & Abolition

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Sullivan County Copperhead James Eldridge QuinlanOne of Sullivan County, NY’s first historians and most noted newspaper publishers, James Eldridge Quinlan, was a Copperhead, a pro-slavery Southern sympathizer, during the Civil War.

Anyone with any doubts about Quinlan’s leanings on the subjects of slavery, the abolitionists, and Abraham Lincoln need only peruse the pages of the Republican Watchman newspaper during the years leading up to the Civil War and during the war itself, to be convinced. [Read more…] about A Catskills Copperhead Strikes Against Lincoln & Abolition

Catskills Ski Resorts’ Early History

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A promotional postcard for the ski area at the Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, Sullivan County, NYThe history the Catskills as a winter sports destination dates back to at least the 1920s, but the attempt to create a year around vacationland did not meet with immediate success. In fact, some spectacular showings at a few of the hotels over the ensuing years notwithstanding, the effort was still largely hit or miss well into the 1950s.

Grossinger’s had entertained more than 850 guests over the Christmas-New Year holidays in 1929, and had its largest weekend ever up until that time, winter or summer, on Washington’s Birthday weekend in 1941, but no hotel – not even Grossinger’s – was able to do that kind of winter business on a regular basis. [Read more…] about Catskills Ski Resorts’ Early History

Sullivan County’s ‘White Christmas’ Connection

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WhiteRoeAerialThe Columbia Inn in Pine Tree, Vermont did not bear much of a resemblance to a Catskills’ hotel of that era, and Dean Jagger’s General Tom Waverly was definitely not much like a Sullivan County hotel owner, but the movie “White Christmas” has a strong local flavor nonetheless. [Read more…] about Sullivan County’s ‘White Christmas’ Connection

Dennis Greenwald v. Sullivan County Supervisors

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Dennis GreenwaldThe recent passing of longtime Mamakating Supervisor Dennis Greenwald brought forth an outpouring of condolences from county residents who remember him, as well as myriad musings about his contributions to good governance over the years as one of the most influential and impactful Sullivan County officials of his era. [Read more…] about Dennis Greenwald v. Sullivan County Supervisors