Historical Society of Middletown

Town of Middletown, Delaware County, NY

Welcome to the home of the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM)

The only website dedicated to the history of our town, located in Delaware County, in the Central Catskill Mountains of New York State

HSM is dedicated to preserving the heritage of the villages, hamlets and the contiguous area of Middletown:
The Town of Middletown, in eastern Delaware County, includes two incorporated Villages, Margaretville and Fleischmanns; several hamlets — Arkville, Dunraven, Halcottsville, Kelly Corners, and New Kingston; and outlying settlements with their own unique histories — Redkill/Bedell, Millbrook, Dry Brook and the Denver Valley.

Because history doesn’t always follow political boundaries, HSM also collects and preserves stories and historic materials from contiguous towns — Roxbury and Andes in Delaware County, Hardenburgh and Shandaken in Ulster County, and Halcott in Greene County (which can only be reached through Delaware County). And of course we seek to preserve the heritage of a Middletown community that is no more — Arena, lost more than half a century ago to the Pepacton Reservoir.

WE ARE BUILDING HISTORY
Please support the campaign for a Middletown History Center!

Recent Updates…

NEWS:
Recent Press Releases

More local newspapers posted online

More local newspapers posted online

More than half a century of the Roxbury Times and 12 more years of the Catskill Mountain News have been added to the New York State Historic Newspapers website, created and administered by the Northern New York Library Network in partnership with the Empire State Library Network.

HSM wraps up busy year with some old fashioned music

MARGARETVILLE – The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown concluded its programming season November 4 with a musical tribute to a home-town composer from the turn of the last century. Following its annual meeting and luncheon, held at the Catskill Watershed...

Vintage Waltz To Be Played at HSM annual meeting Nov. 4

The annual meeting of Historical Society of Middletown members and friends will be held Saturday, Nov. 4 at noon at the Catskill Watershed Corp. on County Road 38 (Arkville cut-off road). PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE – the event will NOT be held at the Margaretville...

HSM holds Oct. 21 Program on Deciphering Surveys and Deeds

HSM holds Oct. 21 Program on Deciphering Surveys and Deeds

ARKVILLE – Rick Brooks, a long-time surveyor and historian of his trade, will present “The Hardenburgh Patent, A Surveyor’s Journey” Saturday, Oct. 21 at 3 p.m. in the Catskill Watershed Corp.’s auditorium on County Rte. 38 (Arkville cut-off road). Admission to the...

TIN HORN:
Observations & Discoveries

The Battle of Shacksville, March 14, 1845

The Battle of Shacksville, March 14, 1845

This is the general area where the Battle of Shacksville is presumed to have happened. That’s the East Branch of the Delaware River at center left crossing under the bridge on what is now Briggs Road. Town of Roxbury collectionThe Battle of Shacksville, March 14, 1845...

In The Prime of Their Lives

In The Prime of Their Lives

Young people in the prime of their lives are reflected in these undated portraits, c. 1870, from an album scanned by Steven Morse. The cigar-smoking men are cousins Eugene Crosby and William M. Bellows and the women are Will’s sisters, Sarah Idell Bellows and Orrie...

WARK: Home-grown TV

WARK: Home-grown TV

WARK: Home-grown TV Back in the Dark Ages, before you could whip out your cell phone, shoot some video and in an instant post it on the internet for all the world to see, there was ‘local access’ cable television. In the Margaretville-Arkville area, it was known as...

EVENTS:
2023 Calendar

JUNE 17
10th Living History Cemetery Tour

AUGUST 5
Middletown Ablaze! Illustrated talk on major fires.

SEPTEMBER 23
19th Annual Cauliflower Festival

OCTOBER 21
“The Hardenburgh Patent: A Surveyor’s Journey” An illustrated Talk.

OCTOBER 22
Field Walk with Surveyor Richard Brooks

NOVEMBER 4
Annual Meeting and Open House

FEATURES
 

Middletown Family Farms, c. 1950

Middletown Family Farms, c. 1950

This map was produced by Ira McIntosh who in 2006 worked with local elders in each section of town to identify the locations of dairy farms that were operating in the late 1940s-early 1950s. It shows 187 family farms. In 2015, there were just two dairy farms still...

Obituary For a Newspaper: History As It Happened

Obituary For a Newspaper: History As It Happened

HISTORY AS IT HAPPENED A program presented by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown on August 12, 2017, and posted on its website March 27, 2020 in tribute to the Catskill Mountain News which ceased publication January 15, 2020. INTRODUCTIONA weekly...

Images of Historic Arkville

Images of Historic Arkville

Take a look at these wonderful pdf documents of historic Arkville photos! Enjoy this peek back in history — 138 photos are divided in to 5 pdf documents to help speed up your download time!

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Collections

Publications

Our Town

Civil War Soldiers

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“Man is a history-making creature who can neither repeat his past nor leave it behind.”

W.H. Auden, The Dyer’s Hand

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