Local History by Dede Terns-Thorpe - OFFICIAL HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY, NEW YORK

Written by J. Van Vechten Vedder in 1926. The book shared some interesting tidbits about the Town of Hunter. Here are a few.

This information was first posted in the Catskill Recorder and the Catskill Mountain Reflector newspapers. (Abbreviations were made due to space constraints.)

January 8, 1926 - The lumber yard of W. I. Hallenbeck, and the nearby home and drug store belonging to John W. Rusk were destroyed by fire in Haines Falls. These were located north of today’s Haines Falls Post Office at 5197 route 23A.

A May 31st fire destroyed the Hunter Creamery at a loss of $35,000, equal today to over $600,000. It was a successful business which opened about 1900. The owner was a N.Y.C. resident, L. B. Samuels. The Ulster & Delaware Railroad train station, located on Hunter’s Division Street, transported numerous creamery products daily.

The devastating Twilight Inn fire on July 14th, 1926, said it was proven to be the worst fire in Greene County, with a loss of 22 lives. There were many heroes fighting the fire that night, including a Palenville employee of Twilight Park, Walter Smith, and Harold and Leon Terns from Haines Falls. The funeral service was described as “impressive” with Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal and Catholic clergy in participation. Twenty firemen were pallbearers after taking part in the tragic fire. The fire was said to be hard for both Twilight Cottagers and the entire Mountain Top community. (Haines Falls firemen were active members of the Tannersville Fire Company until Haines Falls formed its own department in approximately 1954.)

That year four hundred members of the New York City Police Department and their families dedicated the new $500,000 Indian Head Hotel, a major addition to the police camp.

November 16, 1926, proved the worst flood Green County ever had. The Kaaterskill Clove road was impassable, forcing the use of the East Windham Mountain to Hunter.

Thank you all for reading. Further information from this book will be shared next week.

Be well, stay safe, and enjoy your summer.

Dede Terns-Thorpe

Town of Hunter Historian