AboutTown

The globe in my New Paltz Campus School fifth-grade class- room clearly showed the Panamanian isthmus; Mrs. Compton, head-enlightener, pointed out that a channel was dug to connect the two oceans. Shipping options increased. Ho Hum. Not until the book, The Path Between the Seas, by David McCullough, made it onto my reading list that [Read More…]

The list below requires a little explanation. For instance, Rosendale is listed as a hamlet, but that is the common name for the village running along Route 213. The Town of Rosendale, however, encompasses many hamlets and the village of Rosendale is just one. Acccording to the town’s website, others are Binnewater, Bloomington, Bruceville, Cottekill, [Read More…]

This article is edited, corrected, and shortened from its original publication in About Town, Summer edition 1993 Head west from Rosendale village on Route 213 and after the Turco Water Company caves, make a right at the Brooklyn Bridge. OK, so it is not precisely the Brooklyn Bridge. It is a replica of John and [Read More…]

My friend, Ken Ericksen, and I were talking about the race track that was on the flats west of New Paltz back in the 1920s. “You know,” he said, “there used to be a little girl from New Paltz who was a great trick rider back in the thirties. She still lives in New Paltz.” [Read More…]

Care of the sick in Kingston, as in all communities and throughout history, began with home care as alternatives were few, expensive, and far away, not to mention, often not effective or downright deadly. It is only in the last half-century that we take good hospital care as a given. The earliest reference I found [Read More…]

Most of the cards below are from about 1910-1930, and the postmarks from 1908 to 1950. Any that are postmarked will be given that date, but the cards could be older. Offices moved around frequently, often because the postmasters were patronage positions until as recently as 1969. The Woodstock card above is postmarked October 5, [Read More…]

Many an immigrant was drawn to the beauty and fertility of the hills of New York’s  Town of Marlborough. Most seekers came as laborers, stonemasons, and farmers, but others put down roots here after already attaining prosperity in other fields. United States Patent Office patent # 92,966 was awarded to Dominick La Valle regarding “Design [Read More…]

It is difficult to imagine how William and Maurice Wurts developed the concept for and then actually constructed the Delaware & Hudson (D&H) Canal System that ran from Honesdale, PA, to Kingston, NY, using the power and technology of the day–primarily men & draft animals and picks & shovels. The Wurts brothers’ main objective had [Read More…]

Captain William Tompkins I love it when things come full circle. One of the last ferry men, William E. Tomkins, was the chief engineer of the Poughkeepsie Highland Ferry Company. Captain Tompkins was the grandfather of local resident Linda Smith. Linda and her husband, Matt Smith, have been instrumental in reclaiming the land that once [Read More…]

Highland has a few magical spots which remain unsullied by time’s aggressive fingers. If you walk down Mile Hill Road, for instance, the incline becomes steep and you’ll eventually come to the crux of a “y.” At this point, the Twaalfskill Creek, which has raced down Mile Hill with you, gushing with the spring thaw, [Read More…]

About Town was founded in 1984 by Liz Weisz, Elena Erber, Karen Thompson, and Vivian Yess Wadlin.  Stories from 2001 to the current issue are in the archives. As we closed the books on Winter 2018-2019, ending our 35th year, we take the opportunity to look back on some of our favorite stories from earlier [Read More…]

As I look at this photo of Levi, I am suddenly a five-year old standing at the edge of an unpaved road. It’s 1949. “Poison ivy,” Levi says knowingly. His incredible aquamarine eyes survey the ravages of the plant’s oil on my arms. “Stay,” he commands, and carefully lays his bicycle on the grass next [Read More…]

There’s no better time than Fall in the Hudson Valley, and no better guide to the wonders of nature than world-renowned naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921). Below are listed a few of the many places to learn from him. Burroughs led generations of Americans to see nature and—in seeing and experiencing it firsthand–to love and sustain [Read More…]

A sign of the times The large green and white New York State DOT “Kerhonkson” sign stood in front of the 1888 Victorian Rhodes house at the intersection of Milton Avenue and Route 9W in Highland for as long as most of us could remember. It directed people to Kerhonkson (NY) via Route 44/55 taking [Read More…]

When I was ten, I attended my first funeral. I did not know why I was there as the woman in the coffin was unknown to me. She was my grandmother. She had been in HRSH my entire life and no one had ever mentioned her, but as I look back, I recall Sundays when [Read More…]

I was in school from September 1972, graduating in December of 1974. We went to school through the summers. The nursing school was being phased out, and the final class graduated in 1977. Oh, so many stories! My favorite memory of the students/patients was from our final semester. We took psychiatric nursing every day: mornings [Read More…]

Iva Lawrence’s mind is as tidy and organized as the lovely home she and her late husband, Vincent, built. About to celebrate her 97th birthday, Iva speaks with authority about her wonderful neighbors and family. Many regularly drop by to chat or to inquire about this or that—local history, local news—how to make something, or [Read More…]

Mason bees are natives. They are found all over the United States and are excellent pollinators. I’ve been raising them as a hobby for five years and have written about them in previous About Town issues and been interviewed about them by Ulster Publishing. As I write this in February, I have no idea how [Read More…]

Ulster County is comprised of one city (Kingston), twenty towns (New Paltz, Gardiner, Rosendale, etc), three incorporated villages (New Paltz, Ellenville and Saugerties) and about three dozen designations based on census tracts and postal addresses. Most of these last three dozen, plus other named places and small villages are what we consider “hamlets.” These have [Read More…]

Prior to a fire that took the top section of the turret of the Ganse House (current Highland Library building), the lovely home was an inspiration to the thousands of laborers who traveled along the Highland-New Paltz trolley line. Today, the building’s fate is being discussed by Highland area residents and the library board. The [Read More…]

Just in time for holidays and stay-cations, we have three books of local history to enjoy. A.J. Schenkman and Elizabeth (Libby) Werlau bring you Ulster County ripped from the headlines. Okay, so most of the crimes were a while ago. Regardless, human nature is not a pretty picture as painted in Murder & Mayhem in [Read More…]

You might think the newly opened span in Rosendale is just a junior act following Walkway Over the Hudson. You would be wrong. The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail (WVRT) bridge over the Rondout Creek is an intimate experience with different construction and a very different history running its course. There is much to see and [Read More…]

With this issue of About Town, we are well into our 30th year of publication. Last issue we honored some of the business with whom we have been proud to associate over the decades. Here we highlight more area businesses that have proven their value to their customers and clients —they are “time-tested” as well [Read More…]

As we at About Town celebrate the start of our 30th year, we honor other area businesses that have proven their value to you year after year, one year at a time, one customer at a time. It is amazing how many are still owned and run by the same families that founded them. We [Read More…]

Ridgley Manor was built for Francis A. Leggette. The grounds were designed by Frederick Olmstead. Postcards like this were used by summer boarders living in assorted outbuildings. Their rents contributed to keeping the estate’s expenses in line. Two cards in my collection are from 1908 and 1909 and indicate senders stayed there, probably in the [Read More…]

SUNY Ulster is something of a “family affair.” In 1965, my father, Louis Yess, guided his bulldozer to rough out the road that would commence the building of the current Ulster County Community College. Ten years later, I graduated from that school. My husband, John Wadlin, served as Chairman, and in other positions, of the [Read More…]

Several years ago Sam Quimby asked the owners of the Ship Lantern Inn for permission to place a historical marker on their property along Old Indian Road in Marlboro to indicate the road’s use by native Americans. Sam then proposed underwriting and installing the marker to the Marlborough Historical Society. After Sam passed away in [Read More…]

My dear friend, Wilson Tinney, always a wonderful source of interesting area historical tidbits, alerted me to the story of Zimmy, the Legless Swimmer. Zimmy, a.k.a. Charles Zibelman, who lost his legs in a trolley accident when he was a child. Not one to let adversity wash him up, Zimmy went on to become a [Read More…]

Continued from Somewhere Between Here and Kingston.   Another swimming topic and some other random memories from Wilson Tinney were sent in the following email. Editor has added the information shown in italics to give background to Wilson’s information.   “Speaking of swimmers, there was a fellow, Al Melville, who used to put on a [Read More…]

This is a “bad news–good news” kind of story. There is no sugar coating the threats to some of our valuable and/or adorable friends with whom we share this dirt patch in the universe. Now, yes, entire branches on the tree of evolution have come and gone, leaving little or no trace. We did not [Read More…]

About Town of Ulster County’s focus is local history. Two-thousand-eleven has provided an embarrassment of riches for us as history buffs. The books pictured above are just the latest in a growing stream of good reading and viewing provided by local researchers and writers. Stephen Laden, who was the director of the Trolley Museum in [Read More…]

The Civil War was like most arguments — each side had its points, and both the Union soldiers and the Confederates faced off confidently and steadfastly. Modern day history buffs, military servicemen (and women), and bored college students can all make up their minds about which side they would have fought for based on their [Read More…]

In late March the native mason bees begin to emerge to begin their brief fruitful lives. They are one of nature’s best pollinators and will give you hours of enjoyment watching them come and go bringing food and mud to feed and protect their next generation. Harmless and amusing and easy to lure to your [Read More…]

For many of us, the soul of religious architecture is the achievement of an element soaring upward, lifting us from this mortal coil. Rarely do we see a building dedicated to one’s God that does not have an arch or spire—some symbolic element visible from the distance beckoning supporters to “come home.” If the effect [Read More…]

Walkway Over The Hudson strollers and cyclists can now continue their exploration of the Hudson Valley by following the paved Hudson Valley Rail Trail west, passing under Route 9W, and taking the exit that brings them to the Hamlet of Highland. The exit is just west of the 9W underpass, and leads up to Tillson [Read More…]

I asked my dear 93-year-old friend, Wilson Tinney, what he remembered about mills in Ulster County. “Wherever there was flowing water there were mills,” was his reply. In researching this article, I find he did not exaggerate. Carpet mills, paper mills, saw mills, powder mills, grist mills, cider mills, cement mills, carding mills, knife mills, [Read More…]

For all the train buffs eagerly awaiting the release of Glendon Moffett’s* new book on the historic rail lines of Ulster County, (with a working title of Five Historic Railroads of Ulster County), I make this humble offering of station images from my postcard collection. Glendon’s book should be out in early April and will [Read More…]

  Located just 1.3 miles west of the New Paltz village on 299, the Testimonial Gateway has delighted residents and puzzled visitors since its completion in October 1908. Honoring the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Albert and Eliza Smiley, founders of Mohonk Mountain House, the gateway was built from the contributions of 1200 friends of the [Read More…]

Summer: Minnewaska sometime around 1950. We are living at a place called Cliff Inn some two miles down the mountain from the Main Entrance. One day I went for a walk on the Minnewaska property to the Mohonk carriage trail and headed West toward Awosting Falls. To get up to the carriage trail from Cliff [Read More…]

Previous articles on the stresses affecting our common feral (wild) and domestic honeybee populations discussed the disappearance of entire colonies. The term, Colony Collapse Disorder, sums up a focus of current bee research that has important implications for local agriculture. Although farmers in the Hudson Valley rent hives of pollinators for the apple crop, there [Read More…]

There were four huge icehouses on the shore of the Hudson River in Port Ewen. The northern most, at the foot of Main Street, belonged to the Burns Brothers. It was built in 1870 on the dock of the Pennsylvania Coal Company. The Brothers were coal and ice dealers in NY City. About a third [Read More…]

“Your grandfather cut ice at Mohonk.” My father spoke the words without preamble or explanation as we walked along the outside of a huge stone foundation in glorious Fall weather. I knew my grandfather (Louis Yess I) worked, as most subsistence farmers in the area had, doing anything—lumbering, field clearing, hauling, machine repair, construction, fishing, [Read More…]

For most of tourism’s history on the Shawangunk Ridge, the Mohonk Mountain House was one of three Smiley family-owned vacation destinations for the well-heeled. All were set above pristine, glacially- formed lakes and astride the Shawangunk white conglomerate cliffs, each hotel’s magic drawing parched thousands every year to “take the air.” The other two hotels, [Read More…]

From the Preface of Promised Land: Father Divine lifted the despairing from the gutter to self-respect, but his methods troubled many observers. He commanded substantial wealth, but he mystified much of the world as to how he acquired it. He had charismatic power, but his talk of his supernatural abilities was difficult for the public [Read More…]

The newest park in the Town of Lloyd, the Franny Reese Preserve, provides spectacular views of the Hudson River and Poughkeepsie. But it also contains a mystery. Go a bit further along the trails, and you will come across castle-like ruins and the remains of several other stone structures. Something important must have been here [Read More…]

Two years ago we discovered a colony of feral honey bees* in a tree at my family’s old homestead in Plutarch (not far from New Paltz). This spring when I checked, the tree was silent. The colony gone. That colony had been about 8 miles from our present home in Highland. Shortly after that disappointing [Read More…]

Follow the mile markers along the CSX tracks north along the Hudson River and at marker #68 you will see the Milton Train Station looking much as it did 125 years ago–except the train doesn’t stop now. No wagons line up to disgorge the bounty of Ulster County. There are no baggage handlers, no carts, [Read More…]

It is a night in 1839. The Esopus Meadows Lighthouse sits on the edge of Esopus Meadows Flats about three miles south of Kingston. It appears to be in the middle of the river. The lighthouse beam casts its warning to the busy cargo and passenger ships making their way through the darkness and into [Read More…]

With all the bad news for feral and domesticated honey bees (Colony Collapse Disorder), we thought a little good news for gardiners might be in order. That good news is the native Orchard Bees, a mild-mannered pollinator. Last year I purchased two orchard mason bee blocks or houses. These were made from 6x6x9 inch blocks [Read More…]

According to the 1930 census of the Town of Lloyd, Rosa DeLena Alessi, head of household, lived with five of her seven surviving children. Joseph, Concetta, Mary, Anna, and Rose. Two, others, John and Frank, lived elsewhere. All the children were born in the United States, but Rosa and her husband, who had died in [Read More…]

Sometimes it’s just the message conveyed by the sender that makes a card special. Here are a few I hope you enjoy.     PM New Paltz, NY July 27 6pm, 1910:   PM 1917 6am, NY:        (sent to 321 E 5th, NYC)     PM Rosendale Nov 18, 1909, 7am: (with [Read More…]

This article is continued from Fall 07 About Town and can be found here. It is the history of the Rosendale area as recounted by the late Walter Williams, one of the founders of Williams Lake Resort. This story was transcribed by his wife, Marianne Williams, from a recording of one of his “history hikes,” [Read More…]

Perched high on the Shawangunk Ridge in southern Ulster County, New York, Cragsmoor has long been a destination for seekers of beauty. They have been attracted by the rocky outcroppings, jagged cliffs, sheer waterfalls, and unique vegetation, and enticed by the spectacular views of the Catskill Mountains, and the Rondout, Wallkill and Hudson Valleys. The [Read More…]

  The north flowing Wallkill River passes through towns in New Jersey and New York before joining its larger sister, the Hudson, via the Rondout Creek near Kingston. Along its bed, the Wallkill enriches the soils and scenery of the towns of Wallkill, Gardiner, New Paltz, Rosendale and Esopus, among others. Enrichment in return was [Read More…]

Walt Whitman once wrote a poem entitled “To Think of Time.” A recent trip to Atlanta reminded me of that poem. Rather than flying to a conference, I took the train, a sleeper on Amtrak’s Crescent Limited. I know what you’re thinking: what a waste of time. Eighteen hours to make a trip that you [Read More…]

One-room school houses dot Ulster County disguised as homes, stores, club houses, and museums. Dozens of others are gone, but not forgotten by those who learned their “three Rs”, and more subtle lessons–don’t forget your lunch, homework, mittens, boots or anything else, ’cause nobody is going to bring them to you. Walking to and from [Read More…]

With horticultural intrigue—read “variety.” When I interviewed Mike Biltonen for the honey bee story, I learned Stone Ridge Orchard is one amazing place. Last year I became addicted to their cider and enjoyed stopping at their stand on Route 213 (just before the intersection of Route 209). Now I know Stone Ridge is more than [Read More…]

It is easy to wax poetic about honey bees. Fragile, fascinating, fruitful, and feisty, the once ubiquitous wild honey bee is now few and far between. Feral (wild) honey bee colony numbers have been decimated by loss of habitat, pesticides, infestations of an imported fungus and a mite. The mite clogs the adult bee’s trachea [Read More…]

This microcosm of America’s past is not to be missed. Its original builder, Luis Moses Gomez, a Jew, fled the Spanish Inquisition in 1695, ending up in America. Ten years later, Queen Anne of England granted him an Act of Denization–the right to conduct business and own property. In addition to becoming a business leader [Read More…]

This large room of toys contains much of the collection I began more than 30 years ago. It started with one rusty 1938 Ford pedal car that my father brought home from the Esopus dump in the late 1960s. The pathetic little car was parked outside my father’s garage accumulating more rust until I asked [Read More…]

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a way of organizing and administering information related to location. The uses of GIS in Ulster County and elsewhere seem limitless. When you log on to the GIS web-site for Ulster (www.co.ulster.ny.us), a standard map is shown. However, as you zoom in and out of the map and click the [Read More…]

In 1870, the year that Quaker twins Albert and Alfred Smiley opened Mohonk Mountain House, they built the first of four observations towers overlooking Lake Mohonk on the high point of land which was known locally as Paltz Point. The Smileys referred to it as “Sky Top” and that has come to be the accepted [Read More…]

Two skunk episodes and a snake story seemed fitting for Spring. The late Peter Harp’s delightful book, Horse and Buggy Days, a History of New Paltz carried the 1906 John Kaiser skunk story, written in 1965. The second skunk tale, by Vivian Wadlin, occurred in Plutarch in 1952, and her snake tale took place in [Read More…]

A few my favorite haunts and some things I’ve yet to try…such as, the new hiking trail that has opened in Esopus. Esopus: Shaupeneak Trail Coming from the south, Shaupeneak Trialhead is on Old Post Road (a left off Route 9W just north of Black Creek Apartments and Black Creek Road). Then, cross the railroad [Read More…]

Liz Alfonso sat behind a folding card table in the cool October afternoon. Spread before her were a poster with several photocopied newspaper stories and photos, a sheaf of membership forms for the Town of Lloyd Historical Society, and various pens and clips to keep things orderly. “Would you like to join the Lloyd Historical [Read More…]

This summer, I will take my grandchildren over Perrine’s Bridge. I think of the journey across the wandering Wallkill River as an inter-generational sharing, a tradition I can not break. Often, my father and I would stop, abandon our car, and walk within the bridge’s seemingly indestructible timbers. At the Route 213 end of Perrine’s [Read More…]