Delaware River

Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany

November 22, 2021 by Peter Hess 6 Comments

In 1565, the Spanish settled 600 soldiers and civilians at St. Augustine, Florida. In 1607, the English established their first settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, but after a series of floods, Jamestown was abandoned in 1699. Today Jamestown is a national park and archaeological site.

In 1602, the States General of The Netherlands granted a charter to a powerful group of Dutch merchants creating the Dutch East India Company and giving them the exclusive right to develop and conduct trade with the markets in the Far East which included the Spice Islands and China. Soon, these merchants began bringing exotic silk, clothing, ceramics, teas and spices back to the Netherlands. In their travels, the Dutch ship captains discovered the continent of Australia and named it “New Holland.” [Read more…] about Henry Hudson & The Founding of Albany

The Great Pumpkin Flood of 1903 & Other Delaware River Floods

October 14, 2021 by John Conway Leave a Comment

The last three weeks of October, 1903 proved to be difficult ones in the Upper Delaware region, as residents attempted to clean up after a particularly devastating flood.

Following three days of heavy rains, the Delaware River crested on October 10th, 1903, destroying several bridges, wiping out the Erie Railroad’s tracks in a number of places, and damaging homes and businesses in three states. [Read more…] about The Great Pumpkin Flood of 1903 & Other Delaware River Floods

The Upper Delaware’s First Suspension Bridge

July 18, 2021 by John Conway 1 Comment

John A. Roebling was born in Prussia on June 12th, 1806. Educated as an engineer, but finding the political unrest in his home country stifling, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1831 with a small group intent on establishing a community where technology could freely advance. They settled in Western Pennsylvania, establishing the community of Saxonburg. [Read more…] about The Upper Delaware’s First Suspension Bridge

Apple Orchards Are Returning Again to Sullivan County

July 10, 2021 by John Conway 1 Comment

There are still a few people who remember that Sullivan County apple producers at one time shipped apples to every state in the country except for Washington and Oregon.

Perhaps the largest apple producer in Sullivan County at the height of the industry here was Martin A. Smith of Fremont Center. [Read more…] about Apple Orchards Are Returning Again to Sullivan County

Northern Snakehead Sightings In The Delaware River

August 30, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has encouraged anglers in the Delaware River to be on the lookout for northern snakehead, an invasive fish native to Southeast Asia.

A northern snakehead was recently caught in the Callicoon area of the Delaware River. Given the right environmental conditions, this invasive species can prey on and compete with other fish, upsetting the natural balance of local ecosystems. [Read more…] about Northern Snakehead Sightings In The Delaware River

Great Rivals: Lehigh Navigation and the D&H Canal

August 14, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, the great rival to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, was built a few years before the completion of the D&H and carried a significant amount of anthracite coal to the tide-waters of the Hudson and Delaware Rivers.

1939: Nazi Saboteurs In Sullivan County

January 7, 2015 by John Conway Leave a Comment

There have long been stories – most of them unsubstantiated – about the activities of the German American Bund in Sullivan County in the years leading up to World War II.

While the activities of that particular pro-Nazi organization in the region may be debatable, there is no question that a small group of men charged with plotting to overthrow the U.S. government and replacing it with a Nazi style dictatorship spent much of the summer of 1939 in Sullivan County. [Read more…] about 1939: Nazi Saboteurs In Sullivan County

The Half Moon and The Hermione: A Tale of Two Ships

October 22, 2014 by Peter Feinman 12 Comments

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. So it goes for two ships and their diametrically contradictory paths through history.

The Half Moon is a full scale replica of the original Dutch ship of exploration sailed by Henry Hudson for the Dutch East India Company in 1609. The original Half Moon was the first European ship to document entry into what we now call the Delaware Bay and River, and to explore the Hudson River to its navigable limits.

The Hermione is a full scale replica of the French ship that brought LaFayette to America in 1780 and which joined Admiral de Grasse’s fleet for the Battle off the Capes on the lower Chesapeake and the siege at Yorktown. The ship then sailed to Philadelphia in 1781 where the Continental Congress visited and paid tribute to it. [Read more…] about The Half Moon and The Hermione: A Tale of Two Ships

Roebling’s Wire Rope Modernized The D & H Canal

June 10, 2014 by John Conway 2 Comments

John Augustus Roebling celebrated two milestones in June of 1849, his 43^rd birthday and the beginning of construction of the Neversink Aqueduct on the Delaware & Hudson Canal. It was the third of the four aqueducts he would design and build for the canal company, and followed the completion of the Delaware and Lackawaxen Aqueducts the previous year.

Roebling (his given name was actually Johann August) was born in Muhlhausen, in Prussia, on June 12, 1806, the youngest son of Christoph Polycarpa Roebling and Fredericke Dorothea Mueller Roebling. He grew up in a world of private tutors, learned the music of Bach and the poetry of Goethe, and according to some sources, built a model of a suspension bridge when he was nine years old that bore a striking resemblance to what would be his most famous work, the Brooklyn Bridge. He gained admission to the prestigious engineering program at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in Berlin, where he studied languages and philosophy as well as architecture, bridge construction and hydraulics. He graduated in 1826, and went to work for the state, as was the requirement at that time, serving three years building roads in Westphalia. [Read more…] about Roebling’s Wire Rope Modernized The D & H Canal

Delaware River Headwaters History Days, June 7-8

June 2, 2014 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Fifteen museums, landmark structures and historic sites will be open for tours, exhibits and special programs June 7 and 8 when Headwaters History Days celebrates the heritage, culture, folklife and landscape of the East Branch Delaware River towns of Middletown, Roxbury and Andes.

These eastern Delaware County sites will be open to the public at no charge for one or both days. Visit www.headwatershistorydays.org for the schedule of activities. You can also pick up a brochure and map at the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce office on Main Street, Margaretville, or at any of the venues before plotting your own tour route. This collaborative event is part of the statewide Path Through History Weekend. [Read more…] about Delaware River Headwaters History Days, June 7-8