As it has for each of the past several years, Bagel Fest recently brought throngs of people to  Broadway in Monticello, recreating some of the energy of days gone by, when such throngs were regularly seen on the village streets.

There have been many massive parades up and down Broadway– and Main Street before that – but probably none that matched in size and majesty and splendor the Coaching Day Parade of August 28, 1894. 

The parade was sponsored by the Neversink Valley Coaching Association, and was one of a number of similar events held throughout the county over the years. Traditionally, the coaching day festivities were among the most elaborate in the region, and the 1894 Monticello affair may have been the most spectacular of all.

“What more entrancing spectacle can be presented to the eye than that of a summer resort in the midst of a season’s gaieties, with its merry throngs of visitors in charming negligee attire. The scenes which constantly appear are totally delightful,” it was noted in the souvenir booklet for the event, which was printed by the Sullivan County Republican newspaper.

“Imagine then the beauty and impressiveness of a number of summer edens, all converged into one, an army of city visitors in striking and harmonious costumes; drawn in vehicles which truly represent in decorations the artistic ability of several hundred artistic people, and you have some little idea of the scene presented in Monticello on Tuesday, August 28, 1894.”

Coaching Day was envisioned as an opportunity for the various boarding houses and hotels to provide a form of entertainment for their guests and for those establishments to show off to the residents of the surrounding area the quantity and quality of the visitors each attracted. 

The Republican reported that “the decorations and parade were beyond the most sanguine expectations, and will ever be remembered by those who participated, and those who viewed the spectacle.” Each of the hotels and boardinghouses from around the area sponsored one or more wagons, filled with guests, and decorated along some specific theme.

For the 1894 parade, marchers were divided up into divisions: The Neversink Division, for example, included the Maple Grove House, among others; the Woodbourne Division comprised the Hotel Waldorff, Sunset Cottage, Pleasant View House, Terrace Lawn House, Merritt House, Echo Hill Farm House, Mountain Farm House, Summit Hill House, River View House, Brooklet Farm Cottage, and others. 

The Fallsburg Division was made up of the Ontario & Western Hotel, the Johnson House, Murry Hill House, Neversink Falls House, Vandemark House, and others; the Centreville Division included the Mountain View House, the Osborn Hotel, and the Sengstacken House; the LeRoy House, and the Rexford House highlighted the Loch Sheldrake Division; the Hurleyville Division comprised the Brophy House, the Kile House, the Columbia, and the Hotel Waldorf; the Mountaindale Division was led by the Park Hotel, High View Cottage, and the Linden Lawn.

The Liberty Division was represented by the Mansion House and the Hotel Stanton; the White Lake Division included the Hoffman House, and Lakeside House, and the Monticello Division, the largest of them all, comprised the Hotel Rockwell, Mansion House, Hagan House, Brannan House, Allen Farm, Cliff Farm, Marcia Cottage, Sunset Villa, Demarest Cottage, Palace Home, Elm Cottage, Maplewood House, Meadow Brook Farm, Hollyhock Cottage, Hill Side Farm, and others. In addition, dozens of other businesses and individuals sponsored floats.

The parade began at Pleasant Lake - present day Kiamesha - and traveled along Pleasant Street to Hamilton Avenue, where it turned, and then via Park Street (presently Jones Street) made its way to North Street, to Liberty Street, then to Maiden Lane (later known as Wheeler Street) to Jefferson Street, then along Main Street (today’s Broadway) to Mill Street (currently St. John Street), on to Clinton Avenue, then Spring Street, back up Main Street, ending at the magnificent arch erected across Main Street in front of the post office (located on the present site of the Bank of New York, on the southeast corner of Broadway and St. John Street).

The arch was, no doubt, the most impressive part of the day’s proceedings. It was “a thing of beauty in its drapery and decorations” of blue and white, the Monticello colors. Standing 30 feet high and 50 feet across, with massive wood pillars and topped with an array of flags that extended another 16 feet into the air, the archway was a community effort. Designed by George Miller of New York City, it was built by Monticello contractor Andrew Thompson. Frank Geraghty, John P. Roosa, Jr., G.H. Halbee, and Mr. Haas handled the decorations.

In all, over 1,200 people rode in the 205 wagons, 168 of which were decorated, another 200 marched on horseback or bicycles. It was reported that “had the parade left twenty feet, the usual distance, between each wagon, the length of the line would have been three-and- a-half miles.” There were at least four musical bands in the parade, the smallest one comprising 14 marchers.

The Coaching Day festivities continued after the parade itself ended. Some 400 dinners were served that evening at the Hotel Rockwell, and another 250 at the Mansion House. Other businesses were correspondingly busy. The local turnpikes did not collect tolls for the day.

The Sullivan County Republican reported that the event was such a success that “it is intended to hold the Coaching Day Parade in Monticello annually, and next year’s event will be even grander,” but that evidently did not happen.

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian and a founder and president of The Delaware Company. Email him at jconway52@hotmail.com.