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 eight villages and hamlets and the contiguous area:
Margaretville, Fleischmanns, Arkville, Dunraven, Halcottsville, Kelly Corners, New Kingston and Redkill/Bedell, as well as a community that is no more — Arena, lost more than half a century ago to the Pepacton Reservoir.
The Margaretville Covered Bridge,
which spanned the East Branch of the Delaware River on Bridge Street from the 1860s until 1933, is our logo, symbolic of the ‘bridge’ we hope to make between the past and our contemporary lives.
WE ARE BUILDING HISTORY — and we invite you to be part of the campaign to create a history center for Middletown!
Please support the campaign for a Middletown History Center and save our stories.
Recent Updates…
NEWS:
Recent Press Releases
Walk the historic Double Horseshoe Curve
The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown will hold another of its popular History Hikes Sunday, Oct. 2 when historians John Duda and Diane Galusha will lead a walk on the former Ulster & Delaware (U&D) Railroad tracks from Highmount to Pine Hill....
Family Day at Old Stone School
Family Fun Day at the Old Stone Schoolhouse in Dunraven, two miles west of Margaretville, will be held Saturday, Aug. 20 from 10 to 3. In case of heavy rain, the free event will be held Sunday. While there is no admission fee, donations towards the upkeep of this...
The Catskills in a Basket!
This treasure trove of items made in or about the Catskills is the HSM raffle item this year. “A Tisket, a Tasket: The Catskills in a Basket” was assembled by fundraising volunteers Jackie Purdy, Anne Sanford and Marilyn Pitetti. The large wicker laundry basket...
Theater photos, memorabilia sought
The Galli-Curci Theater in downtown Margaretville turns 100 this year and organizers of an anniversary celebration are turning to the public for help in locating photographs and memorabilia.Photographs of the theater, especially its interior; early playbills,...
TIN HORN:
Observations & Discoveries
Hard luck brings out the neighbors
If you live in the Catskills chances are you’ve attended a benefit supper, concert or ball game to help a sick neighbor or a family fallen on hard times. It’s what we do. Sometimes it’s all we can do. ‘Twas ever thus, it appears. In 1909, Margaretville came together...
Cemetery Drive Tour Offers Escape
Looking for a reason to get out of the house without worrying about catching or spreading COVID 19? Our self driving tour of 9 cemeteries in and around Middletown is just the ticket. Scenery, history and freedom on four wheels! This poignant memorial to a child can be...
Win This Painting!
This lovely winter view from atop Palmer Hill, Andes looking east towards the central Catskills was painted by the late John Hopkins and is this year’s prize in HSM’s annual raffle. Donated by Meg Hopkins, the acrylic on canvas in white frame measures 9″x12″. Tickets...
Leslie the Lamplighter
Among HSM programs and events canceled by the COVID 19 pandemic was the Living History Tour of Margaretville Cemetery. Among the characters who had planned to greet visitors on June 20 was Arthur Leslie Dumond, stone carver, lamplighter and school janitor. Leslie (he...
EVENTS:
2022 Calendar
Sat. July 31 — Giant Jumble Sale
Books, antiques, housewares, baked goods, gift baskets, plants, quilt raffle, door prizes. HSM hall and grounds, 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville. 9-3.
Sat., July 10 — 8th Living History Cemetery Tour
Meet 15 people from the past on a one-hour guided walk through Margaretville Cemetery. Tours depart every 20 minutes beginning at 4 p.m. $20; children under 15 free. Reservations required. Call 845-586-4736 to reserve a tour time. Rain date July 11.
Sat., May 29 — Historic Marker Unveiling
Celebrating Mountain Athletic Club Grounds’ naming to State and National Registers of Historic Places! Vintage ball game between MAC and Olneyville Cadets to follow. Free admission. Village Park, Wagner Ave., Fleischmanns. Noon
Secrets of Kelly Hollow
Learn about the natural, industrial and human history of this mountain clove on a 3.5-mile hike on State trail with forest historian Michael Kudish. Space is limited, registration required. $10. Meet at State TrailheadMill Brook Rd., 10 a.m. Register:...
FEATURES:
Guest Posts
Hauling steel for the Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower, 1919
Read an eye-witness account by Russell Todd (1908-1975), provided by Betty Baker.
1890 Ulster & Delaware Railroad Directory
The Deaf Poet
The following is excerpted fromWorks by James O’Connor, The Deaf Poet, with a Sketch of His Life by A. B. Douglas, Jan. 4, 1879James O’Connor, the subject of this sketch, was born in Andes, New York, January 26, 1835. He was always an apt scholar, full of study and...
Bark Peeling Contract
MEMORANDUM OF CONTRACT between Jesse Tompkins and A. Clark and Son in which said Tompkins agrees to peel from four to six hundred cords of hemlock tan bark on such places on Mill Brook as A. Clark and Son may direct. The Bark is to be peeled, piled and saved in a good...
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Collections
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Middletown
Civil War Soldiers
History Links
Projects
“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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