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In May of 1953, a year after Sullivan County’s perfect summer, the New York Times reported that there were 2,000 bungalow colonies in the county, averaging 25 bungalows each, for a total of 50,000 bungalows. This is a fairly typical example.
Retrospect
It is probably safe to say that the participants in last Sunday’s bus trip to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway and the closing of the second annual Festival of … more
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Photo of a portion of “the letter that won the American Revolution” from George Washington to Nathaniel Sackett asking him to form a network of spies.
The godfather of American Intelligence
On May 23, 1789, Nathaniel Sackett sent a long, rambling letter to newly inaugurated president George Washington. The letter informed Washington that Congress had denied Sackett’s proposal that … more
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The Festival of the Founding Fish 2023 emblem.
Retrospect
As far back as 2012, Debra Conway, at that time beginning her second year as the Director at Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History in Narrowsburg, was advocating for an annual festival in the … more
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A sportsmen’s parade
Long before the O&W Railway touted the healing environment that was Sullivan County beginning in the 1880s, the Erie Railroad had been established along the county’s western edge. By … more
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Arthur C. Butts.
Famous Sullivan County murder trials
Few Sullivan County residents have ever attained the success of Arthur C. Butts of Monticello– lawyer, assemblyman, judge, and published author– and yet there are only a handful of locals … more
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The comedian Jean Carroll
The first Mrs. Maisel
It seems as if a number of those who chose to celebrate April as National Humor Month last week by taking in this columnist’s presentation of “Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Borscht … more
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Some of the participants at last year’s Delaware Company sponsored Highland History Hike at the Minisink Battleground Park listening to the hike’s narrator, Sullivan County Historian John Conway (forground).
History hikes in Hurleyville and Barryville
Hurleyville’s Milk Train Trail and Barryville’s Minisink Battleground Park are the venues for two more in a long line of popular History Hikes, this time to again commemorate national … more
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Like so many trends in the Sullivan County resort industry, the idea of making entertainment a staple of the visitor’s experience began at the Flagler Hotel in Fallsburg.
Laughter is the best medicine
Like so many other Sullivan County hotel trends, from Mission style architecture to telephones in the rooms, it all started with the Flagler.   In 1929, Asias Fleischer and Philip … more
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Columbia University pitcher W. O’Connell, lower right (#11), played on the Liberty town team during the summer of 1908, when some of the top collegiate players in the country worked at Sullivan County hotels so they could play baseball here.
The reigning fad
For many years prior to 1951, the very best basketball players in the world spent their summers in Sullivan County, honing their skills and showcasing their talents representing one hotel or another … more
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Dr. Jokichi Takamine.
The chemist and the cherry trees
On March 27, 1912, the first two of thousands of Japanese cherry trees were planted along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington, DC by First Lady Helen Taft, the wife of President William … more
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Judge Judith Smith Kaye.
Mother of justice
Judith Smith Kaye was born to immigrant parents in Monticello in 1938, attended a one-room schoolhouse in Maplewood, and graduated early from Monticello High School, where she participated on the … more
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Margaret Bross Thomas.
The Barryville family school for young ladies
Chauncey Thomas was one of the most prominent residents of the upper Delaware River valley in the 19th century, a successful entrepreneur who, among other accomplishments, built the first suspension … more
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Deputy County Clerk J. Maxwell Knapp, who recorded the historic event in the court archive.
Retrospect
Women’s inexorable march toward equality in politics and government in this country has been one of small steps, and there have been many obstacles to overcome. Sometimes in looking back, it is … more
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A Middletown Times Herald photo of Susanna Potsch and her family shortly after her nomination to run for Superintendent of the Poor in 1929. Susanna is bottom right. Her mother, Susanna Schwatz, is next to her and her two daughters are behind them.
Retrospect
There were probably not many Sullivan County women less likely to be the first to win a county wide election than Susanna Potsch.   She was born Susanna Schwatz in Germany in 1887, and came … more
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James Eldridge Quinlan, writer, editor, publisher, Copperhead.
The copperhead strikes
Regular readers of this Retrospect column over the years should by now be well aware of the fact that one of Sullivan County’s first historians and most noted newspaper publishers, James … more
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The regimental flag of the 26th Infantry, United States Colored Troops.
The 26th regiment, U.S.C.T.
It was in December of 1863 that the United States War Department authorized the Union League Club of New York to recruit, train and equip an infantry unit to fight for the North in the Civil War. The … more
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One of the few photos extant of Philip Del Fungo Giera.
Was bungalow project a del fungo con?
In 1930, when the population of Sullivan County was just over 35 thousand, Census figures reveal there were just 91 African-Americans living here. That’s slightly more than one-quarter of one … more
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The artist Francis W. Davis's conception of Albion Hall, created for the Sullivan County Historical Society's “Directory to Quinlan's History.”
The end of Albion Hall
It was February of 1903, and the embers were still smoldering from the fire that had destroyed one of the most historically significant buildings in the county just a few days before.   It … more
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The Concord in Kiamesha Lake was the leader in winter sports activities among the Sullivan County resorts beginning in the 1950s and '60s.
Building winter tourism economy
The history of Sullivan County as a winter sports destination dates back to at least the 1920s, but the attempt to create a year around vacationland here did not meet with immediate success.   … more
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Dr. Alfred Lebbeus Loomis.
Retrospect
It was Saturday, January 26, 1895, and throngs of mourners were gathered at the Church of the Incarnation in Manhattan for the funeral of one of America’s most prominent doctors. Dr. Alfred … more
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Shelley Winters in 1949.
Retrospect
On January 14, 2006, the renowned actress Shelley Winters died at the Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills, where she had been a patient since a heart attack three months before. Sources differ as … more
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Bethel Supervisor George Neuhaus.
Retrospect
As regular readers of Retrospect have no doubt learned, the long era during which Sullivan County was governed by the Board of Supervisors was often marked by heated exchanges and stubborn political … more
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Liberty Supervisor William Pearson, a Democrat, made the controversial motion to adjourn the 1967 reorganizational meeting of the Board of Supervisors to Maimonides Hospital so Neversink Supervisor Joe Raffa, a patient there, could vote.
Retrospect
While there are some who act as if provocative rhetoric and heated political battles in Sullivan County government are unique to the current legislature, the fact is that both were common occurrences … more
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Sullivan County International Airport had the longest runway between New York City and Buffalo when it opened in 1969.
A Giant Step Forward
It was December 19 of 1967, and 150 spectators and “innumerable luminaries from all levels of government, the professions, and industry” were gathered on the former site of Camp Israel in … more
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The Flagler Hotel in South Fallsburg as it appeared in 1964 after the expensive additions that eventually led to its demise and subsequent re-purposing as the Crystal Run school.
A new look for old hotels
In December of 1975, the New Hope Community, a facility caring for people with developmental disabilities, opened its doors at the former site of the recently closed Green Acres Hotel in Loch … more
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