Catskills Archives - New York Almanack

Dr Rosetta Sherwood Hall: Catskills to Korea

April 13, 2022 by John Conway Leave a Comment

Dr. Rosetta Sherwood Hall was born in Liberty in Sullivan County, NY on September 19th, 1865, grew up on the family farm and attended the Chestnut Ridge School and the Liberty Normal Institute.

After receiving her teaching degree from Oswego, she taught in local schools for a few years before entering the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1886, and becoming a missionary doctor in Korea in 1890.

Her pioneering work with deaf and blind Korean children and her founding of what eventually became the Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul. [Read more…] about Dr Rosetta Sherwood Hall: Catskills to Korea

Forever Adirondacks Campaign Celebrates Budget Victories

April 13, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The coalition supporting the new Forever Adirondacks Campaign for clean water, jobs and wilderness – led by the Adirondack Council’s Aaron Mair – declared victory as state government moved to approve a budget that includes funding for a series of top campaign priorities.

The Forever Adirondacks Campaign is a coalition of advocates, government officials, business leaders, educators, college administrators, grassroots activists and not-for-profit organizational partners seeking clean water, jobs and wilderness. [Read more…] about Forever Adirondacks Campaign Celebrates Budget Victories

Monticello Amusement Park: Some History

April 3, 2022 by John Conway 1 Comment

For myriad reasons — perhaps most importantly the influence of the fortress hotels — the amusement park was never a big part of Sullivan County’s tourism industry.

There have been numerous attempts in the county over the years to capitalize on America’s love affair with places like Coney Island’s Luna Park, Disneyland, and Palisades Park, but none that succeeded for more than a few years. [Read more…] about Monticello Amusement Park: Some History

DEC Should Conduct A Nationwide Search For A New State Forester

March 24, 2022 by Peter Bauer 2 Comments

The current New York State Forester at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that he is retiring in April.

This position doubles as the Director of the Division of Lands and Forests, and as such is the top public lands manager in the state, supervising the management of the 3-million-acre Forest Preserve, more than 750,000 acres of conservation easements, over 700,000 acre of State Forests, and thousands of acres of Wildlife Refuges and various other properties. [Read more…] about DEC Should Conduct A Nationwide Search For A New State Forester

Public Comments Sought On Boat Decontamination Facilities

March 21, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have announced a joint public comment period to solicit comments for a proposed amendment to the Generic Unit Management Plan/Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Campgrounds and Day-Use Areas.

The Generic UMP provides information on the environmental setting, inventory of facilities, organizational structure, issues, constraints, management objectives, and effects for Campgrounds and Day-Use Areas in both the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. [Read more…] about Public Comments Sought On Boat Decontamination Facilities

Sterling Forest State Park Expands With Purchase of Historic Black Resort

March 7, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Sterling Forest State Park in Orange County, NY is growing by an additional 130 acres that includes a portion of the former Greenwood Forest Farms, the first resort in New York State incorporated by and for Black families.

Between its founding in 1919 and through the 1960s, a portion of this property was Greenwood Forest Farms, which was founded by a group of prominent Black families and civic leaders from New York City, the resort became a haven for cultural and civil rights leaders from Harlem and Brooklyn, including writer Langston Hughes. Some descendants of the original pioneers now live in the neighborhood year-round. [Read more…] about Sterling Forest State Park Expands With Purchase of Historic Black Resort

Rangers Make Another Rescue at Kaaterskill Falls

February 25, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

According to a press release issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conervation (DEC), on February 20th at 12:10 pm, Forest Ranger Fox responded to a report of a subject on the ice approximately seven feet from the edge of Kaaterskill Falls. Environmental Conservation Police Officer (ECO) Lt. Glorioso and ECO Palmateer also responded.

Kaaterskill Falls is a two-stage waterfall on Spruce Creek in the eastern Catskills, between the hamlets of Haines Falls and Palenville in Greene County, NY. [Read more…] about Rangers Make Another Rescue at Kaaterskill Falls

Rangers Recover Dog’s Body at Kaaterskill Falls; Respond to Snowmobile Accidents

February 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.

What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Rangers Recover Dog’s Body at Kaaterskill Falls; Respond to Snowmobile Accidents

Catskills Klan: The KKK in Sullivan County, New York

January 23, 2022 by John Conway 1 Comment

Many people – even those with more than a passing interest in Sullivan County history – are surprised to learn that the Ku Klux Klan was once fairly active in parts of the county. And yet, throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, there were several chapters in the Catskills, most set up by recruiters from the Binghamton area.

These Klan chapters, whether in Livingston Manor, Jeffersonville, Liberty, Woodbourne or some other hamlet, often started out as social organizations, and it was not unusual to see newspaper articles and even advertisements about their charitable activities or their clambakes, sometimes in conjunction with the Kamelias, the organization’s women’s auxiliary. [Read more…] about Catskills Klan: The KKK in Sullivan County, New York

Winter In the Catskills: The Columbia Ski Resort

January 16, 2022 by John Conway Leave a Comment

It is unlikely that when he built the hotel with the spectacular vistas in 1891 John Harms Knapp envisioned it ever being a year-around resort, let alone one that advertised “superlative skiing,” and yet that is exactly what the Columbia Hotel in Hurleyville in the Catskills became in the early 1960s.

And of all the ski areas in Sullivan County — from Glen Hill to Christmas Hills — the Columbia’s was among the most successful, albeit for a relatively short time. [Read more…] about Winter In the Catskills: The Columbia Ski Resort