History repeats itself

History repeats itself

Sep 19, 2011 | Tin Horn

1933 flood, Margaretville, Bridge Street

It has been painful to watch the tragedy of Irene unfold – lives lost, people uprooted, businesses stopped in their tracks, buildings rearranged. Our hearts are with all of those whose lives have been profoundly changed. This is what it means to live in this stream-crossed region – once in awhile, you pay.

It’s strangely reassuring to know that flooding – and mucking the East Branch out of one’s home or business — is a common experience among those who have called the Catskills home. Consider the Flood of October 9, 1903, as recounted in the Catskill Mountain News the following week:

“About midnight the rain begun to descend in torrents and by daylight the river had spread out over the flat above the village and Bull Run was in an ugly mood. Soon the water began to flow across the street between the river and Olympic Hall (Ed: what we know as the Granary building on Bridge Street – today housing Timberland Real Estate and the Flour Patch). Bull Bun rose rapidly and as the channel along the property of Charles Gorsch filled up with stones and gravel the water was diverted from its course and flowed across Mr. Gorsch’s dooryard and garden and onto the land of Erastus Clute, S. F. Scott and others. It crossed the street and deluged the livery of M. Anderson, driving the horses to higher ground; it swamped the buildings adjoining and filled the basement of Miss Muir’s residence. Owing to the improved condition of the walls on either side the water kept its course to the lower end of the Boyes property and ran with lightning rapidity. Amid the roar of the flood huge stones could be heard pounding along the bed of the stream as the mighty current drove them before it. From the river back to Mr. Gorsch’s rear line the channel was piled high with stones, gravel and the debris that always comes with a flood—the amount being estimated by a practical man at 500 tons.

“The water has since flowed across Mr. Gorsch’s back lot and emptied itself into the lower end of Swart Street. The rising water in the river drove Mr. and Mr. George H. Hewitt from their home near the river bridge and carried off a lot of their vegetables and other belongings. In exchange, however, tt left them a lot of good stovewood “in the log” right in their dooryard. . .

“Dickson’s livery was flooded and the horses and carriages were taken over to the Ackerly barn. The water rose high enough to run out of the dining-room window at the Hotel Bouton and soaked everythlng on the first floor of the house. It got Into Hubbell’s grocery store. The basement of Searle’s hardware store was awash and there was good boating in “Andy ” Easman’s cellar. Sperling’s bakery, adjoining, came in for a soaking and the supply of fresh broad and hot rolls was temporarily shut off.

“The water overflowed upper Main street and there was a good-sized lake in front of the residences of E. Laidlaw and E. L. O’Connor (Ed: today’s Legion hall). Houses in that part of the village lying above the bridge over the Binneklll near the foundry were flooded and the occupants were held prisoners. . . .

“Morgan Olmstead and Dr. Chamberlain, while on their way from Highrnount to Griffin C rners were obliged to ford the Emory Brook this side of that place, the rains of the past few clays having raised the stream until it was a perfect torrent. The wagon was overturned and the occupants tossed into the flood, Morgan succeeded in climbing onto the horse’s back, but the wagon was pitched by the angry waters on top of horse and rider, knocking him into the stream again, which was last seen of him. Dr. Chamberlin grasped the reins and was dragged by the horse to the shore in an unconscious condition and quite badly injured. The remains of the unfortunate young man were found by Albert Hitt early Saturday morning lodged In the willows near the grand stand on the Fleichmanns ball ground. The funeral occurred on Monday.”

Where was this school?

Where was this school?

Aug 19, 2011 | Tin Horn

Unknown school and children

This wonderful undated photo postcard of a one-room schoolhouse, with the teacher in the center of 17 students, was loaned for scanning by Bob Vredenburgh. His mother was a Shultis, and they had a farm on the Denver Road a mile or so up from Kelly Corners. Bob has several photos of the Pink Street school where the Shultis kids went, but this photo is of a different school. Can anyone identify the location, the teacher, or any of the pupils?

The postcard is addressed to Mr. Judson Haynes, Seager, NY: “Dear Juddie, This is a picture of my school and school house. It was taken one day this fall.” Signed E. E. P.

It looks to be prior to 1910. And are those corn shocks in the field behind the school?!

4 responses to “Where was this school?”

Abby Farber
Monday, September 5th, 2011

Could this perhaps be the old one-room school house on the Denver-Vega Road (now Route 36)? We owned a vacation home in the 1960-70’s across the road (and down the hill) from an abandoned one-room schoolhouse.

Here’s a location in Bing

Tom Hurley
Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

This most likely was the one room schoolhouse bought by a couple from Bklyn/ Queens/ or Long Island. Ironically, I believe they were school teachers. I can remember being in that building, very late 50s into the sixties…. (having spent so much of my youth and teens in Denver) it stood on the north east side of the Denver-Vega Rd… (past Ballards home/farm) …only help I can provide….TGH

jean giuliante
Monday, June 11th, 2012

This actually is owned by my in-laws — We are currently looking for pictures and any info that anyone might have.

I take that back — this is not the school house they own — the one they own in on the corner of sally’s alley and vega mountain road.

Fred Rueck
Friday, September 27th, 2013

Hi Jean, I was up there a few weeks ago and saw an old building on Vega Mtn. Rd. at intersection with Sally’s Ally. The building had lettering on it “Vega Hall 1844”.

I was curious about it and it’s history and had one heck of a time researching it!

I assume that the building that I saw was the one you described. Do you know any more about it?

It was easy to know you were in Bedell . . .

Jul 11, 2011 | Tin Horn

I lived in Bedell, just “over the hill” to the west of Halcott. There were (and are) several ways to get to Bedell from Halcott. From the old Halcott Store and post office you could go west then north over the mountain into the head of Bedell, and Big Red Kill Road, or go a little farther south and come out by Joe Todd’s house, which led to Little Red Kill Road. You could also go over the Old Halcott Road to Moseman Road and also end up by Joe Todd’s house.

It was easy to know you were in Bedell. Coming up Little Red Kill Road, past the cemetery, before it intersected with Big Red Kill Road, you could see the white letters in my great uncle Gilbert Streeter’s pasture, way up on the hill behind his house that spelled out “Bedell NY.” The letters could also be seen from Big Red Kill Road as you passed by my parents’ house (Hilton and Stella Kelly) and continued up the valley.

My great grandfather Ward Kelly, Uncle Gilbert’s father-in-law, laid out the large flat rocks, and painted them white. They were placed in the ground on a slant so they could be seen more easily from the road. The rocks were evenly spaced so the letters appeared from a distance to dot the hillside.

Anyone seeing the rocks from the road might imagine the letters to be at least 5 feet high. My cousin Karen (Finch) Hull and I knew from experience (since we walked the hills on his farm regularly as we played outdoors) that each letter was at least 20 feet high. As they weathered we thought they should be repainted. One of our hill treks took us up there with paint cans and brushes to repaint them. It took us longer than expected. There were a heck of a lot of stones to paint! They were a mix of chipped paint, weathered stone, and dried moss.

The historic stone sign is gone today, replaced by a road, which leads to the Treetops housing development on the hill. Would anyone like to re-create the Bedell sign? There is ample room on my father’s land, and he’s agreeable to seeing it up there again. Please contact me at larmour1@nycap.rr.com, or the Historical Society, mtownhistory@catskill.net

Linda Kelly Armour

3 responses to “It was easy to know you were in Bedell…”

richard dell shultis
Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

Hello Linda…….your blog about Bedell New York stirred some wonderful childhood memories. As a youngster I lived in Kelly Corners and also the Denver-Vega valley. My aunt and uncle lived in Bedell just a short distance from the cemetery. My aunt Emma Kelly was the Postmaster in Bedell for many years and my uncle Merchant Kelly had a gas pump on the corner of their property to serve all the locals gasoline needs. My parents Dell and Dorothy Shultis are buried in the beautiful little cemetery in Bedell, I can still vividly recall the wonderfully pungently sweet aroma of the wild thyme that grew as a groundcover over much of the cemetery. And I remember well seeing the big letters on the hillside spelling out BEDELL……I am 70 years old and live in Phoenix Az. Would love to know if you knew my aunt and uncle.

Linda Armour
Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

It was so good to hear from you, Richard. Merch and Emma were my next door neighbors growing up. They were the only couple I ever knew who celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Just walk down the hill, across the stream, up the hill, and you were at my house on Big Red Kill Road (not Little Red Kill Road where the cemetery is). Stella and Hilton Kelly are my parents. I walked the approx. 2/10 mile daily to get our mail. I remember the small post room quite well and either Merch or Emma, sometimes both, greeting me with a smile. After the post office closed, we received our mail via roadside mailboxes from Fleischmanns. Wilbur Woolheater was the postman. When he passed away, my mother Stella became the postman, er postwoman. She served that role for 43 years, retiring in 2007. Mom and Dad moved to assisted living last year and we sold their home. The white Bedell sign will live in memory only. I wish I had a photo of it, other than in my memory.

richard dell shultis
Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

thank you Linda for responding…..and you do indeed have sweet memories of my aunt and uncle. Emma and my mother Dorothy were sisters. I am sure that I met your father sometime in the 1950s. They spoke of him often. The people who lived in that Red Kill valley were the best people on earth…..honest hardworking and neighborly……..With best regards, Richard Shultis

Win this quilt!

Win this quilt!

Jun 14, 2011 | Tin Horn

A colorful queen-sized quilt in the log cabin design has been donated to the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown to raffle as a fundraiser.

The quilt can be seen this Saturday at the HSM table at the Pakatakan Farmers Market at the Halcottsville Round Barn. The more tickets you buy, the better your chance of winning this hand-stitched beauty! The winning ticket will be drawn at the HSM annual meeting October 23.

The Catskill Mountain Quilters, which meet every Monday at the Erpf House in Arkville, completed the quilt which had been started by Jackie Reither of Margaretville. Jackie, with several other quilt enthusiasts, had pieced the top during a workshop sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension several years ago. Recently, she gave the partially finished bed cover to the local quilting group to complete. Peg Barnes, who led the Extension workshop, is a member of the Catskill Mountain Quilters.

The group has made and donated countless quilts to area non-profit groups and institutions to help them raise funds. “The Historical Society is grateful to all of the talented women who worked on this beautiful quilt, which is destined to be a family heirloom for the lucky winner,” commented HSM President Diane Galusha.