History, Natural History & the Arts
NYS Forest Rangers recently responded to several search and rescue missions for injured and ill hikers in the Catskills and the Adirondacks. These included at least one hiker who was seriously dehydrated.
There is currently an extreme heat wave in New York State. [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Respond to Ill, Injured Adirondack, Catskills Hikers
Water currents can be strong at any time of year, but early season boaters, paddlers, anglers and swimmers are at a greater risk in spring when waters are still cold – cold enough to cause cold water shock, hypothermia and death in minutes.
Three recent stories highlight the dangers of recreating on and around cold and fast waters in Spring: [Read more…] about Early Season Paddling Tragedies Are A Cold Reminder
In October of 1960, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech entitled “The Future of Integration” at the annual convention of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in the Catskills at the Laurels Country Club in Sackett Lake, Sullivan County, NY.
Less than two weeks after that October 8th appearance, he was sitting in jail for attempting to integrate the lunch counter at Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta, Georgia. [Read more…] about Martin Luther King in the Catskills in 1960
The Delaware Highlands Conservancy has announced the protection of 18.4 acres of forests and wetlands in the Town of Thompson, Sullivan County, NY, through a conservation easement held by the Conservancy. [Read more…] about Sullivan County Forest Property Permanently Protected
New York’s first known covered bridge was built in 1807. It crossed the Neversink River in the hamlet of Bridgeville located southeast of Monticello in the Sullivan County town of Thompson.
The Bridgeville Bridge was an important link in the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike, a toll road running from the Hudson River to the Delaware River that was incorporated by a legislative act on February 28, 1806 that was to include a “a good and sufficient bridge across the Neversink-river.” [Read more…] about Neversink & Delaware River Covered Bridges: Some History & Design Notes
New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) recently responded to illegal burns in several counties, including Greene, Erie, Sullivan and Orange Counties leading up to and after a statewide ban on residential brush burning took effect on March 16. [Read more…] about Open Burning Leads to Wildfire, Tickets Across Upstate NY
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 SUV Recovered From Crane Pond Rd; 70-Yr-Old & Dog Spend Night in Woods; Hikers, Hunters Rescued
It was February of 1903, and the embers were still smoldering from the fire that had destroyed one of the most historically significant buildings in Sullivan County, NY, just a few days before. [Read more…] about Albion Hall: The Destruction A Sullivan County Historic Building
The 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
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