HISTORY CORNER:
Tin Horn
OBSERVATIONS AND DISCOVERIES
Rafting down the Delaware — audio history
Bill Horne’s presentation at the HSM Annual Meeting Oct. 23 gave us a chance to hear voices from the past, namely Mike Todd, legendary hunter and woodsman, and Orson Slack, a former raftsman on the Delaware. Horne’s book, The Improbable Community: Camp Woodland and...
Margaretville’s Finest
This photo, donated to HSM by Ed and Janet Vermilyea, shows the Margaretville Fire Department at the 1909 Hudson Fulton Celebration in Kingston.Identifications penciled on the back of the photograph by Ed’s mother included: front, l to r., Nealy Ackerley, Harry...
Echoes of industry
What today is known as the Woolheater house, on Maple Street across from the fire hall was once located on Main Street where Suites on Main (formerly Royal Cleaners) stands. In the 1880s it was Will Mungle’s harness shop, situated above the Binnekill between the shoe...
Halcottsville Relic Hunt yields finds, funds
HALCOTTSVILLE RELIC HUNT PHOTO GALLERYClick for a larger view of each image...
The Merrihew bus line
1920s transportation for those without their own horse or car. Ulster County communities served by the Merrihew Brothers are painted on the side of the bus, evidently before Margaretville was added to the route.Back in the days when bus seats were made of wicker and...
Video: Do you remember 1950s Middletown?
You’ll enjoy this video, created by Fred Margulies, of a program we held in April 2016. We asked the audience to chime in with info about people and places highlighted in a slideshow. Hope you enjoy this communal trip down memory lane. Please contribute your own...
Calling Dr. Green…
Was this the George Green house?A recently discovered photo of a grand old house that once stood in Dunraven has shed a bit of light on 19th-century doctoring. When this photo was taken by the NYC Board of Water Supply in the late 1940s, the house was part of the...
One tired farmer
Percy Haddow didn’t even get his barn boots off before falling asleep in a big upholstered chair with his old dog at his feet in his undated photo, supplied by Carol Haddow Gates. Percy was born in Arena in 1880 to Robert and Mary Jaquish Haddow and continued the...
John B. Hinkley of Halcottsville
This broadside for the auction of John B. Hin(c)kley’s dairy herd and equipment is in the Roxbury historian’s collection. It paints a good picture of what the average farm contained in 1917, and what the average farmer considered important. Top of the list was Mr....
Message from 1909
This postcard image of a house in Margaretville was sent to Mrs. Laura Fowler in Prattsville by someone who wrote on the front: “Do you recognize these two old friends, J.H.S. and L.H K.? Margaretville, April 18, 1909. I hope you are well. We are well as usual.” Who...
“American Idol” 1949
Do you remember when TV was in its infancy, in the late 1940s and early 1950s? If you were a kid then (and your family actually owned a TV!) you may recall “Teen-Age Barn,” a popular variety show on WRGB from Schenectady that featured young, local talent.It debuted on...
Who lived here?
The flood buyout program that has cleared at least two dozen lots on Margaretville’s Main Street and contiguous streets in the last 15 years has claimed another historic property, including the brown house in this photo, located between Margaretville Central School...
“The thrill of my life”
That’s what Helen Keller said after landing two fair sized trout in Dry Brook in late July, 1935. The Catskill Mountain News reported July 5 that she had rented “King’s Lodge,” the former Kelly farm, one of the Gould properties, for the summer. With a sizeable staff...
From soldier to fish farmer
Research into the lives of Middletown’s Civil War veterans has revealed more than a few intriguing and inventive men behind the uniforms.Alder Lake with farm house, barn and hatcheryOne of those was Julius G. Smith. Born in Glen Aubrey, NY May 18, 1840 to George and...
Lost in the Sierras
A sad story of a climber lost in the mountains of California resonated with folks in Middletown more than a century ago. Kenneth Archibald, the son of Rev. Andrew Archibald, a native of New Kingston and a clergyman, disappeared while on a tramping excursion June 20,...
Seymour Dane, Cowboy and Fruit Farmer
Seymour Dane, on the high plains of MontanaHe was born in Arena on the East Branch of the Delaware River but he made his fortune raising cattle on the arid high plains of Montana, and ended his days growing oranges in sunny Florida. This unlikely arc by a man named...
The other winter sport
Skiers aren’t the only ones who love winter. Those who hurl heavy balls down long lanes towards meticulously arranged wooden pins brave all kinds of weather to gather at the local bowling alley every week to have some very noisy fun.Since 1986, Mike Finberg has...
An ode to the horse
The following remembrance , written by George D. Taylor in his 1950 memoir “These Hills are not Barren,” is full of affection and admiration for the animal that kept things running on the family farm before the advent of the tractor. A three-horse team is shown...