Sullivan County Democrat logo
National Award-winning,
Family-run Newspaper
Log in Subscribe
History
Sort by: Featured Most recent
196 results total, viewing 101 - 125
Prominent Monticello attorney Arthur C. Butts is said to have waged a brilliant defense in the trial of Mark Brown. Nevertheless, Brown was convicted of murder and eventually hanged.
Mark Brown and Sylvester Carr
It was Saturday night, the third of October in 1874, and the hamlet of Purvis was in a festive mood.   Sylvester Carr, a popular local bartender was getting married the next day, and his … more
|
Sept. 30, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 The furniture and undertaking firm of  Brand and Co. contemplates opening a branch house in Liberty. The water question is getting pretty serious when downtown people … more
|
The O&W’s “abbreviated facility” in Mountaindale constructed in the wake of the 1931 fire. (Photo from “To The Mountains by Rail” by Manville B. Wakefield)
The Great Mountaindale Fire
In the early morning hours of Saturday, September 26, 1931, fire inexplicably broke out in the unoccupied storefront owned by Aaron Anderman on Mountaindale’s Main Street, and rapidly spread to … more
|
Sept. 23, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 The Sullivan County Telephone Company, operating through the county, has been absorbed and superseded by the Delaware River Telephone Company of Liberty, N.Y., which was … more
|
Alan Barrish at the grave of George B. Wooldridge in Mongaup Valley.
A Footnote to History
On September 14, 1814, after watching British warships bombard Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, a successful attorney and amateur poet, penned a poem about the experience. Originally entitled … more
|
September 16, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 A new law in this state went into effect Sunday, which requires secrecy to be maintained by all who handle telephone messages. Under its provisions any telephone or … more
|
The plaque commemorating the Battle of Chestnut Woods near Grahamsville was erected in 1920. It lists three men who were killed in the ambush. It is more likely there were at least 11 killed.
The Confusing Saga of Chestnut Woods
On September 5, 1778, a small contingent of colonial militia from Fort Honk near present day Napanoch, were ambushed near where the Chestnut Brook flows into the Pepacton Creek in what is today the … more
|
September 9, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 The German Presbyterian Church of Jeffersonville celebrated the 15th anniversary of its existence this week. The beautiful little church was not large enough to accommodate … more
|
The ferry that ran between Masthope, PA and Tusten, NY beginning about 1840 was typical of the Delaware River ferry boats.
Delaware River Ferry Boats
Long time readers of the Retrospect column will no doubt recall the chronicles of the protracted efforts 35 years ago to discover the moorings of the ferry that crossed the Delaware River between … more
|
September 2, 2025 Edition
140 Years Ago - 1885 On account of the numerous showers of late, the Delaware River is up to a rafting freshet. The large barn belonging to Dr. Johnson of Barryville, was destroyed by fire … more
|
Sullivan County Court Judge George L. Cooke presided over the trial of five of the Farm Rest Bandits in December of 1935.
The End of the Farm Rest Bandits
It was early morning on September 1, 1935 when NYS Police Sergeant Thomas Mangan shot and killed a man attempting to flee the scene of a hold-up at the Farm Rest, a house of ill-repute just outside … more
|
August 26, 2025 Edition
140 Years Ago - 1885 Livingston Manor — There was a slight frost around here Monday morning but not enough to do any damage. In traveling from Jeffersonville to this place … more
|
New York State Police Sergeant Thomas Mangan
The Farm Rest Bandits
As August of 1935 was drawing to a close, and with it the summer resort season in Sullivan County, law enforcement officials were busy trying to solve two highly visible hotel robberies, and being … more
|
August 19, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 The Town of Fremont probably furnishes as many lawsuits as all the other towns in the county together. The Seventh Day Adventists have moved from Monticello to … more
|
Richard Jenkins with the powder horn engraved with the route of the Sullivan Expedition of 1779.
Guiding General Sullivan
On August 11, 1779, at the height of America’s war for independence, General John Sullivan arrived at Tioga Point in upstate New York with a large force of men and began construction of what … more
|
August 12, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 A purse of $100 will be offered for a free-for-all horse trot at the Rockland Town Fair at Livingston Manor August 29. Erie train No. 9, one day last week, struck a … more
|
St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church has stood on the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street in Monticello since 1899. Prior to that, the corner was home to Hugh Orr’s blacksmith shop.
The Smithy
The village of Monticello’s Main Street of 1840 little resembled the Broadway of today and perhaps even less so the hustling and bustling thoroughfare of the 1950s and ‘60s the Dominican … more
|
August 5, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 Levi Layman of the Beechwoods district, who gained notoriety some time ago by announcing that his death would occur upon a certain day – long since passed – … more
|
Historical musician Linda Russell will be presenting a program on colonial era music at Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History in Narrowsburg tomorrow (Saturday, August 2) at 4 p.m.
Music in the Colonial Era
Not much is known about the music that was played in the Cushetunk settlement along the upper Delaware River in colonial times, nor about the men and women who might have played it. One of the … more
|
July 29, 2025 Edition
140 Years Ago - 1885 The annual Beechwoods Picnic and Harvest Festival for the season of 1885 will be held at Weber’s Grove, Beechwoods. As the preceding festivals were a complete success … more
|
A view of Round Top from across Kiamesha Lake. Abraham Finkelstein’s body was discovered in a berry patch there on July 25, 1930.
The Body in the Berry Patch
On Friday afternoon, July 25, 1930, in the midst of a pervasive heat wave that brought record high temperatures to much of New York state, 60-year old Paul Senson of Kiamesha Lake was out picking … more
|
Hospital Rock at the Minisink Battleground in Barryville.
In the Shadow of Hospital Rock
Over the years, many visitors to the Minisink Battleground have noted that when young people visit the Park, the scene of the July 22, 1779 Revolutionary War battle, their attention is typically … more
|
July 15, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 Lafayette Gilbert, proprietor of the iron foundry at Livingston Manor, was killed almost instantly at Roscoe on June 26. He was loading some goods in his wagon at the store … more
|
The Anthony Hasbrouck house, the scene of the 1840 murder of its proprietor, still stands.
Sullivan County’s First Hanging
On the afternoon of July 14, 1842, Sheriff Felix Kelly fastened a noose around the neck of Cornelius Hardenbergh, and a few seconds later Hardenbergh, a member of what had once been the … more
|
July 8, 2025 Edition
130 Years Ago - 1895 A trout, said to weigh between eight and ten pounds, was taken from Palen’s Pond last week. It was transferred to the state hatchery. John Knead of Roscoe stopped … more
|
« Prev | 1 … 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 Next »
Currently viewing stories posted within the past 2 years.
For all older stories, please use our advanced search.
© Copyright 2026 Sullivan County Democrat
Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions