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Down the Decades
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August 8, 2023 Edition
140 Years Ago - 1883 A new method of raising money is currently used by some church societies known as break the jug. Just what “break the jug” means we have no way of knowing but … more
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August 1, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago -   1873 The Clements House of Liberty, purchased last week by Mr. Crispell, has been sold by him to Elias Champlin of that village. The Clements brothers will conduct the … more
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July 25, 2023 Edition
140 Years Ago - 1883 The 8th annual picnic of Sullivan County Lodge No. 421, I.O.O.F. will be held in Inderlied’s Grove near Youngsville on Monday, August 21, 1883. Music will be furnished … more
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July 18, 2023 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1893 Roscoe was the only place in Sullivan County which had a real celebration on the Fourth this year. At the Callicoon Center Schuetzen Verein match on July 4, the prizes … more
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Photography still evolves: This postcard shared by Jim Henke fifteen years ago describes a challenge that photographers today might be glad they missed. According to the notes on the right of the card, the image was a double exposure, one of Klinger’s dam and mill pond in North Branch, and the other of the sheep on parade. The sheep seem to have won out, although the comments (signed by E. Jost) indicate that the photographer thought the glass plate was a lost cause. Without noticing that the plate had already been exposed, the effort was revealed once the plate was developed. Dated in late 1907, we know that the sheep seen here, as well as Klinger’s mill pond, are now long gone.
July 11, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 William Hardenburgh, well known in this part of the county, died in San Francisco, Calif., last Wednesday and was buried there. Mr. Arthur Bird has retired from the … more
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July 4, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 Sheriff Winner was in town the other day armed with papers with which those two worthies, Ludington and Waller, are bound to compel the Board of Supervisors to give Waller a … more
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June 27, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 Mrs. Christina Weintz of Beechwoods has by far the finest orchard in the Town of Delaware, containing about 700 fruit trees, all of choice and selected varieties. John … more
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‘The Summer House’: This Artino postcard at Kenoza Lake conjures up memories of the sunny heat of summer, and the welcome escape to a shady gazebo like this. We can just imagine tunes from a local brass band drifting from the shelter, as night falls and cool breezes waft from the lake — time for an evening stroll! This year, the summer solstice arrives on Wednesday, June 21. Welcome, Summer!
June 20, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 On Saturday the Callicoon Fire Department sold to the newly organized Lake Huntington Fire Department, the hand engine which was used here before the hydrants were put in, … more
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Falls at Reynolds’ Mill: Thanks to Elise Hornbeck for identifying the falls in Glancing Back (May 23, 2023 issue). The feature formerly existed at the Reynolds sawmill on Chestnut Creek, near what is now the New York City DEP sewer facility, which was renovated in 2019. Readers who would like to learn more about the falls, the tannery, or the town of Neversink in general, can visit the Time and The Valleys Museum in Grahamsville to find out more.
June 13, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 Messrs. Gardner, Casey & Co. of Hortonville offers the following rates of good rye straw — $11 per ton is offered for flail threshed rye straw; $9 per ton for … more
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June 6, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 The Lenape Lake Club near Livingston Manor was fined $120 last week for using traps in their private lake. The lake was stocked several years ago and is one of the best … more
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May 30, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 I have just returned from New York and have a complete stock of all that is latest in exquisite millinery and would be pleased to have you call and inspect same. Mrs. … more
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On the road to Grahamsville: This postcard was mailed from Aden post office to Ferndale in 1907. There are several brooks in Grahamsville but what falls are depicted here? If anyone knows this photo’s location, please call Ruth at our Callicoon office at (845) 887-5200.
May 23, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 The Birch Ridge Sunday School picnic takes place today. A pretty banner has been made for the occasion. A shoe peg factory will soon be added to the industries of the … more
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A Delaware River Scene: Postmarked in Hambletville, New York in 1911, this postcard was published by G.V. Millar of Scranton, Pa. The image for the card was likely made from a glass plate negative recently donated to the Sullivan County Historical Society in Hurleyville. When Charles Bergner’s former Callicoon home was sold, the plates were found by the new owners in an outdoor shed. Bergner, who was married to Jenny Curtis, also worked for G.V. Millar as a sales representative for some time, and he traveled in that role to different hotels and boarding houses to sell restaurant supplies. It’s possible that he is the photographer who captured this image in Deposit over a century ago.
May 16, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 The Town of Callicoon may claim with no small degree of pride that it stands alone as the promoter of agricultural interests in our county. We know of no other section in … more
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‘Halsey Corners’ Home: Many people have passed this dwelling at the corner of 17B and Route 115 in Bethel (Pucky Huddle Road) and wondered how soon it will succumb to gravity. Its legacy as part of the Halsey Corners of West Bethel is nearly forgotten, because it likely had its beginning well over a century ago. In 1984, Bethel Historian Beatrice Schoch wrote: “According to Mr. Ralph MacArthur, who owns this building and in whose family it has been for many years before the little building was built, this was never a toll house. It was a wash house behind the barns that were used as a way station for teamsters hauling a distance too great for one team or without a rest. It was moved where it is now about 1900 and used for some years as a home.” The Halsey Inn, which stood across from this on 17B, was reportedly owned by two of Mr. MacArthur’s aunts at one time; his mother was a Halsey before marriage. In the 1850 U.S. census, David Halsey is listed as an innkeeper in Bethel, and the inn is depicted across the road on the 1856 Gates map and the 1875 Beers Atlas. The late Callicoon historian Charles S. Hick wrote in the Sullivan County Record in 1944 about the Halsey Four Corners (as the intersection had been known), adding that they were also known sometimes as the McArthur Four Corners: “Many of you remember the ruins of the old tavern and the numerous barns that were a part of the es­tablishment... Here the horses on the turnpike stage coach were changed at that time and the passengers were provided with meals [at the hotel]... Every one was served with a meal, fresh horses were hitched to the coach, and every one was on his way with as little loss of time as possible.”
May 9, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 The “island” in the Delaware River was completely swept away by the late flood. Mr. Charles Muller of Jeffersonville has recently produced an accurate and … more
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Time machine: Buildings which survived the fire of 1918 on Main Street in Jeffersonville are few. At least two of these buildings still remain. Lixfield’s offered Ballantine’s Beers & Ales at the left. A notice in the Sullivan County Record in 1911 said, “Wm. H. Lixfield is remodeling the interior of his building, formerly the Baum place, so that the cafe floor will be up with the street level. George C. Lixfield has moved his harness business to the Beck building across the street.” A confectionery and the Knell & Durr Café were also renovated at some point, enclosing the balconies you see here. Another sweets and ice cream shop sign is visible down the street. The Eagle Hotel street banner proclaims “Automobile parties accommodated - oil and gasoline for sale - garage and livery - ice cream.”
May 2, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 The new charter of the village of Port Jervis passed both houses of the legislature. Our neighbor, Mr. Scheidell of Jeffersonville, has completed a new fence on the border … more
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A busy corner at Briscoe Road: After we published this photo in Glancing Back (March 7, 2023 issue), we heard from Katherine Calkin who grew up on Briscoe Road. She wrote that Eben Lawrence owned the Hotel Lawrence [far right], the Leona, the feed store and miniature golf across the street where the fire department is today. Said Katherine, “The first kindergarten class in White Sulphur Springs [was] housed upstairs in the firehouse. June Ellmauer started the year with us, but was replaced by Edith Paul when Mrs. Ellmauer became pregnant.” She also recalls Jack Eggler’s garage, Fishbein’s market which was only open in the summer, and the house which Jack Eggler lived in, which is on the pond. Does anyone have photos of the miniature golf or the early fire department that they would be willing to share? If so, call Ruth at (845) 887-5200 or email alookatyesteryear@gmail.com
April 25, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago -  1873 Pigeons are again flocking over the county. Several flocks have been seen at different points. Owing to considerable opposition, it is doubtful if Monticello’s … more
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April 18, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 A. Brown and A. Mitchell of the garage firm of Mitchell and Brown have dissolved partnership. Mr. Brown will open and conduct a machine shop and garage on the completion of a … more
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Scenes from the commute: More than a century has passed since this postcard was cancelled in Livingston Manor, on its way to Delaware County. The writer was sending word to his sister that all was well and that he would return to Hobart within the month, with his brother. This Artino card is a view of wood chemical industry work, which at one time flourished between Sullivan and Delaware counties. Note the teams pulling the carts were horses and oxen, and their way downhill was unpaved, narrow and likely to be slow going —a lengthy and difficult commute.
April 11, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 Mitchell & Brown, garage and machine shop of Callicoon and agent for Detroiter cars, offer the cars for sale at $850 and $900. Mr. and Mrs. Alec Brown of Callicoon … more
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April 4, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 A fire-charred and completely gutted frame is all that remains of the large garage and machine shop owned by Martin Hermann of South Main St., Callicoon. Five automobiles, … more
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March 28, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago -   1873 Sullivan County has one solid Republican on its Board of Supervisors. Think how lonely that poor fellow must be. The Hammonds are about to close their tannery at … more
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March 21, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago -  1873 The following is the result of the recent elections which we did not publish last week and are borrowed from the Watchman: Mamakating, Lewis Rhodes, Dem., elected … more
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March 14, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. George Raum of Kenoza Lake on February 28. John Brustman cut a tree measuring fifty-five feet in length and as straight as a string on the … more
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March 7, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 In a message delivered by Past District Deputy grand master Charles T. Curtis at the last annual public installation of Delaware Lodge No. 561, Callicoon, he gave evidence … more
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Class of 1937 revealed: It may be wintry weather, but readers of the Decades page are certainly not hibernating! A rapid response to last Tuesday’s Glancing Back photo from Bonnie (Poley) Dimler gave us the names of the entire group, thanks to her sharing her mother’s careful identification chart. The following are the names of those pictured, with spouses (not all of whom are known to be 1937 grads). Front row, left to right: Ralph Fisk, William Wagner, Osmer “Ozzie” Long, Earle Poley, Kenneth Werlau. Second row: Robert Ruppert, Clara Knise Ruppert, Edna Long Wagner, Helen Fisher Fisk, Mae Stewart Poley, Marion Maus Emrich, Lillian Weiss Werlau, Albert Emrich. Third row: Ethel Werlau Bennett, Elizabeth Boyd Eschenberg, Katherine Plaskin Bauernfeind, Dorothy Gottschalk Sipple, Rita McCarty Graby, Mildred Korth Whitmore, Madline Plaskin Poley, Anne Steinhauer Pfeifer. Fourth and top row: Jack Bennett, John Eschenberg, Robert Bauernfeind, Ralph Sipple, Ray Graby, Orvis Whitmore, Arnold Poley, Emil Pfeifer.
February 28, 2023 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1913 In this issue of the Democrat we publish an article from the pen of Charles T. Curtis and it is not only interesting but is of great historical value, probably being the best … more
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February 21, 2023 Edition
150 Years Ago - 1873 The Rev. F.A. Crane will supply the Presbyterian Church at Youngsville and Jeffersonville next Sabbath. Service at Youngsville 10:30 a.m. and at Jeffersonville 3 p.m. … more
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