From the Archives
HSM COLLECIONS OF HISTORICAL MATERIALS
Pictured here are a few of the thousands of items in the HSM collection of historical materials. The collection includes photographs, diaries, store ledgers, business records, school documents, yearbooks, maps, letters, records of civic organizations, advertising items and the like. The collection includes some artifacts too, such as signs, small tools, housewares, toys and the like.
It is the only history collection dedicated to Middletown and the surrounding area. HSM is committed to preserving these treasures, adding to the collection and documenting our holdings so that researchers may make use of them. These materials will also inform our programming and exhibitions into the future.
To donate items relevant to the history of Middletown and contiguous towns, please contact us:
history@catskill.net; 845-586-4973.
Diner detective
Bowls Hotel, c. 1920s-30s, Postcard courtesy Roger DavisMichael Engle, who maintains a site about classic diners at www.nydiners.com, wrote to ask if we knew of any photos of a diner that was incorporated into Bowl’s (Kelly’s) Hotel on Main Street in Margaretville. A...
Genealogy Roundtables
Mark your calendar for two Genealogy Roundtables happening Saturdays, March 24 and April 14 from 10 a.m. to Noon at Fairview Library Community Room, Walnut St., Margaretville. Sally Elliott Scrimshaw will talk about Elliott, Squires, Long and related families on March...
The Irish of Clovesville
There is a small burial ground in Clovesville that harbors a forgotten immigrant history of our area. Known locally as the “Irish” or “Catholic” cemetery, it is located across Old Route 28 from the larger Clovesville Cemetery. Whether those interred wound up there by...
Buried, and uncovered, by Dry Brook
The waters were cruel in our region late last summer. They claimed buildings, land and one precious life, and left a legacy of ruin that will take months, even years, to repair. But the flood also uncovered a bit of the past in a section of Dry Brook on the property...
What’s going on here?
Mystery photo, What's happening here?The image above is one of 21 glass plate negatives found above Miller’s Drug Store in Margaretville years ago and donated to the Historical Society of Middletown by Al and Naomi Weiss. Several of the negatives were scanned and...
Ethel Bussy remembers the Flood of ’50
Mystery photo, What's happening here?Floods have always been a part of the history of Margaretville. A devastating flash flood, called “the rain makers flood,” supposedly caused by chemical seeding of the clouds over this area to make rain after an extended period of...
Listening at Thanksgiving
The 4th Annual National Day of Listening, promoted by Storycorps, is Friday, Nov. 25. Ignore the hordes of holiday shoppers and offer the best gift of all to someone you care about – the gift of your time and attention. Use a digital or old-fashioned cassette...
Redkill memories
I was happy to come across your website and to read about the history of the Middletown area. For nearly 40 years, my family owned property in “Redkill Valley,” in the town of Roxbury on Red Kill Road. It was purchased from Pete Dezaro, a former dairy farmer whose...
Searching beyond Middletown
Looking for relatives or historical information from the Towns of Denning (Ulster County) or Neversink (Sullivan County)? How about the South Kortright-Stamford area? You may find what you’re looking for at a new history center in Grahamsville, or onlin, in a...