news archive | Historical Society of Middletown

Annual Meeting, D&NRR talk planned

Oct 25, 2015 | news archive

The D&N started as the Delaware & Eastern

An illustrated talk on the Delaware & Northern Railroad (“The Damn Nuisance”) will be presented Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown’s annual meeting and luncheon.

The event begins at noon at the HSM hall, 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville. It will include a report on HSM’s activities over the past year. Current and prospective HSM members are most welcome.

The winning ticket for a beautiful painting by Alix Travis, “Mailboxes,” will be drawn following the program. A door prize or two will also be offered.

Admission is $15 and reservations are required for the luncheon of country comfort food prepared by chef Chris McGee (formerly of Hogan’s Back Room in Andes, now of Spillian in Fleischmanns) – tomato glazed meatloaf, mashed potatoes and fresh green beans, with carrot cake for dessert. A vegetarian loaf will be offered for those who do not eat meat. Call 845-586-2860 by Oct. 19 to reserve your seat.

The presentation on the short but eventful life of the Delaware & Northern Rail Road will be offered by John Duda, rail enthusiast, postcard collector and member of the board of the Greater Fleischmanns Museum of Memories.

The D&NRR ran from Arkville to East Branch between 1905 and 1942. Built to link the Ulster & Delaware and the Ontario & Western Railroads, it served communities along the East Branch of the Delaware River that are now under the Pepacton Reservoir, as well as hamlets below the dam in Downsville.

The tale includes a name change, many financial bumps, and a look at the lost towns and a way of life now gone. The slide show includes wonderful historic images, many from the railroad’s earlier years when it was run as the Delaware & Eastern.

An exhibit on the D&N and the communities it served, made possible by a grant from the Catskill Watershed Corp. in partnership with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, will be on display during the luncheon and program.

No tool like an old tool!

Sep 18, 2015 | news archive

There’s no tool like an old tool, and ample evidence of that will be supplied at the History Tent at the Cauliflower Festival Saturday, Sept. 26 from 10 to 4 in Margaretville Village Park.
Sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, the tent will be the gathering point for antique farm implements and equipment loaned and in some cases demonstrated by area residents and farmers.

Lynn Johnson, an avid collector of all things that go and the creator of the Rust in Peace mechanical graveyard on the Arkville Cut-off Road, will bring a 1930s-era buzz saw to show how rough lumber and scrapwood was noisily and efficiently cut back in the day. The power for the saw will be provided by Johnson’s 1937 case tractor, which he will also ride in the Tractor Parade that begins at 11:30 a.m. The buzz saw will be demonstrated at 12:45, 1:45 and 2:45.

John Fairbairn of Red Kill will smash some apples periodically during the afternoon using a hand-cranked cider press that belonged to great uncle Claude Haynes.

Bob Vredenburgh will travel from his home in Greene to bring a fanning mill made in the 1860s or ‘70s by R. D. Sloat of Roxbury and used on the farm of Sebastian Shultis of Kelly Corners. He will also exhibit a large threshing machine he restored. Made about 1880, it too was used on the Shultis farm on the Denver Road.

Any idea what this item is? Come to the Cauliflower Festival and find out!

Andrew Campbell and Burr Hubbell will explain and demonstrate a variety of tools and ingenious devices found in barns and other buildings at the Hubbell Homestead farm in Kelly Corners.

A Frank Mead-made wooden cradle (the kind that mowed buckwheat, not the kind that rocked babies) will be on loan for the day from John McMurray. HSM’s own two-seater cauliflower planter, donated by the late Ron Ballard, will be in its usual place of honor in front of the History Tent, where an exhibit on the heyday of the Catskill Mountain cauliflower industry will be displayed.

The eagerly anticipated DVD of the Fourth Annual Living History Cemetery Tour, held in June at New Kingston Valley Cemetery, will be available for purchase. The video of the one-hour tour, featuring area players portraying people from Middletown’s past, was professionally produced by videographer Kevin Spelman.

A sales table of glassware, home decor and other items will help raise funds for HSM. Several regional history books will be available for purchase, including “When Cauliflower Was King in the Catskills.”

Antique appraisals and Collectors’ Expo Sept. 12

Sep 3, 2015 | news archive

Antiquarian Richard Axtell will provide antique appraisals, while collectors of glass, clocks, memorabilia, postcards and more will display and discuss their collections on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Historical Society of Middletown, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

The Collectors’ Expo runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with appraisals conducted from 11-2. Admission to the hall is free; appraisals cost $5 per item. There will be door prizes and raffles, and refreshments will be available.

Richard “Smitty” Axtell started the House of Axtell Antiques, also known as “The Rookery,” in 1968 in a lovingly restored inn in Deposit, NY. The Rookery houses fine, museum quality examples of early Americana including baskets, stoneware, treenware, redware, folk art, iron hearth accessories, country furniture, textiles, art work, glassware and early lighting devices.

Axtell has carefully researched his ever-evolving collection of antiques, which he exhibits at shows throughout the east. In 2012, The Rookery Bookery was established offering books, poetry, pamphlets, song books, journals and manuscripts, some dating to the early 18th century.

Collectors who will be on hand September 12 to showcase their specialties include Robert Abbate of Andes, Depression glass; Bill Karpoich of Roxbury, cottage clocks; Debra Tuthill of Treadwell, Shirley Temple collectibles; John Duda of Fleischmanns, local postcards and British Royal commemorative items; Marsha Kathmann of Delhi, Boyd bears; and Peg Kearney of Fleischmanns, specialty ceramic items.

Shirley Temple

Depression glass is inexpensive colored and clear dinnerware made during the Depression era. It was given away at movie theaters, gas stations, grocery stores, and in boxes of soap, and was sold in five-and-ten-cent stores for pennies apiece. Robert Abbate has been collecting these items with wife Debra since 1971. Pieces from their collection were featured in the Time-Life Encyclopedia of Collectibles.

Depression Glass butter dish

Bill Karpoich from Round Back Antiques in Roxbury will display an array of antique kitchen (cottage) clocks. The earliest in the collection date from the 1870s. Bill has always had an interest in the mechanical workings of machines, teaching himself to repair these clocks as well as restoring them.

Debra Tuthill collects “everything Shirley Temple” reflecting her admiration for the 1930s child star who starred in 43 feature films in a Hollywood career that stretched into adulthood. Shirley Temple Black (1928-2014) also served in the US Congress, and as ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia.

John Duda will display his personal collection of Fleischmanns, Middletown and Pepacton Reservoir postcards and will also sell cards of other areas and topics. He will showcase his collection of British Royal memorabilia as well. It includes commemorative china, books and ephemera such as souvenir publications from Elizabeth’s coronation and post cards going back to Queen Victoria.

Marsha Kathmann has been collecting Boyd bears for 15 years. The collection has grown to more than 300 bears, dressed for every occasion, season and holiday, and claims its own room in her home in Delhi.

Peggy Kearney will be on hand to display vintage ceramic shoes collected by her grandmother.

For more information on HSM events and activities, and to read features on local history topics, visit www.mtownhistory.org, or call 845-586-4973.

Destination Middletown!

Aug 19, 2015 | news archive

“The Hotels of Middletown,” a slide show featuring images and stories from more than 40 hotels and inns that welcomed guests over the past 150 years, will be presented Sunday, Aug. 16 at 1 p.m. at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

Admission is $2 for HSM members, $4 non-members. www.mtownhistory.org

Presenters Diane Galusha and Georgi Fairlie will provide a whirlwind tour of destination lodging facilities ranging from farm-based boarding houses to elegant estates. Examples include the Pakatakan Hotel in Arkville which catered to artists; Briarcliff Lodge that started as a health retreat; the Pocantico Inn with its memorable porticoed entry on Margaretville’s Main Street; and Kass Inn, known for its sumptuous buffets and later its golf.

Half of the program will be devoted to Fleischmanns hotels, including the Takanasee, with its lavish entertainment, DePitts Mountain Lodge with its own ski slopes, the Palace, catering to Hungarian clientele, the massive Pinewood, and the Park Terrace, whose pool is now the municipal swimming pool on Wagner Avenue.

From Smith Farm in New Kingston, the Arena Hotel, and the Grand Hotel, that epic hostelry in Highmount, the slide show will recall an era when villages were crowded with summertime visitors. Images of the railroads that fed the tourist trade, turn-of-the century Main Streets, and 1950s promotional brochures will depict the decades-long enchantment that tourists had – and still have – with this part of the Catskills.

Gravestone cleaning workshop Aug. 8

Jul 21, 2015 | news archive

Learn to safely clean the surface of gravestones at a workshop Saturday, August 8 at the Clovesville Cemetery near Fleischmanns.

The workshop, led by Marianne Greenfield, proprietor of Gravestone Cleaning Service of Delhi, will run from 9:30 a.m. to noon. It is sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown in cooperation with the Clovesville Cemetery Association.

Participants will be guided in the use of gravestone cleaning techniques and the biodegradable and non-toxic cleaning product D/2, which is used and recommended by the National Park Service.

Space is limited; reservations are required and can be made by calling 845-254-5381. Workshop fee is $15 and includes all supplies.

Before cleaning

After cleaning

Square dance + ice cream social mean old fashioned fun!

Jul 12, 2015 | news archive

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown will celebrate ten years of promoting, preserving and presenting local history with a square dance and ice cream social on Sunday, July 19 at its hall located at 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville.

John Jacobson, fiddler and caller, will lead the Tremperskill Boys in an afternoon of Catskills traditional music. Doors open at Noon, the dance starts at 1 p.m., and ice cream and cake will be served at intermission. Admission is $10; children 15 and under are free. www.mtownhistory.org

No dancing experience is necessary to participate in this family friendly event, which is in keeping with community dances, picnics and parties held over many decades by the Izaak Walton League and later by the New Kingston Valley Grange, former occupants of the HSM hall.

Ginny Scheer, director of Catskills Folk Connection, will offer the folk and historical context of square dancing in the Catskills and will guide dancers on the floor. Beginners are welcome; dances of interest to veteran dancers will also be called.

Square dancing is about community, so come enjoy dancing with your neighbors and make new friends, too. But if you don’t feel like dancing, just come listen to the music, with its origins in Irish and Scottish traditions. Bring a picnic to enjoy by the pond! An exhibit of items from HSM’s collection of artifacts and memorabilia is also on display at the hall for the summer.

Musicians in addition to John Jacobson will include Amy Liebermann on upright bass, Chris Carey on banjo and Sheila Addison on guitar. A special guest on July 19 will be Casey Mullaney who calls lively contra dances, a type of line dance common in New England that is being revived in this area.

The band’s repertoire explores the roots of Celtic music, and pays tribute to the music and square dance calls of the late Hilt Kelly of Red Kill. The Tremperskill Boys along with Henry Hermann served as Hilt’s backup band, thereby extending his playing and calling in his later years. John Jacobson became Hilt’s protégé and studied his tunes and calls as well as dances by other Catskills’ callers recorded at Camp Woodland.

Catskills Folk Connection is a virtual folklife center, established by Ms. Scheer and folklorist Karyl Eaglefeathers in 2007 to celebrate and preserve the folklife of the Catskills Region. It is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group and, with monthly square dances, supported Hilt Kelly, his band and his dances until his death earlier this year. “It was a great privilege to be part of the life of one of the great musicians of our region,” says Scheer, “and we will do our best to perpetuate his musical heritage.”
In addition to supporting Catskills music and dance, Catskills Folk Connection is conducting field work about the folk arts of farm women for the New York Folklore Society, and is researching a local folk painter, Nelly Bly Ballard, in a project funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and the O’Connor Foundation.

For more information, tune in to Catskills Folk alternate Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on WIOX 91.3 FM and www.wioxradio.org, or take the “Catskills Vernacular Architecture Challenge” at www.catskillsfolkconnection.blogspot.org.