Welcome to the only website dedicated to the history of the Town of Middletown, located in Delaware County, in the Central Catskill Mountains of New York State.
Our Town includes eight villages and hamlets: Margaretville, Fleischmanns, Arkville, Dunraven, Halcottsville, Kelly Corners, 
New Kingston and Redkill/Bedell, as well as a community that is no more – Arena, lost more than half a century ago to the Pepacton Reservoir. You’ll find capsule histories and photographs of all of them on the Communities page.
This site is also the “home” of the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM). Formed in 2004, HSM has grown from 40 founding members, to an organization of more than 100 history lovers who enjoy and support our programs and preservation projects. The Margaretville Covered Bridge, which spanned the East Branch of the Delaware River on Bridge Street from the 1860s until 1933, is our logo, symbolic of the ‘bridge’ we hope to make between the past and our contemporary lives.
We invite you to tour the site and appreciate the rich heritage of our beautiful Town. Come back often to see what “new” history has been posted since your last visit!
We’re observing a milestone in 2013!
The first European emigrants to settle in our town arrived from the Hudson Valley 250 years ago, in 1763. Four Dutch men and their families made their way to the East Branch ‘flats’ that year — Harmonus Dumond, his brother Peter Dumond, Johannes Von Woggoner and Peter Hendricks. We’ll be exploring the results and ramifications of their pioneering efforts as the year progresses. Watch our Calendar of Events for special observances.
“Man is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind.” W.H. Auden, The Dyer’s Hand