Middletown
()
About this ebook
Marvin H. Cohen
To illustrate this fascinating history, author Marvin H. Cohen has selected the finest images from the collection of the Historical Society of Middletown and the Wallkill Precinct, of which he is president and curator. A lifelong resident of Middletown, he is proud to share his deep knowledge of the community, gained in part from his fifty-year membership in the Middletown Fire Department and his decades of research as a railway historian.
Related to Middletown
Related ebooks
Middletown Revisited Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPort Jervis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Carbondale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5South Boston Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCatskill Village Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of Jenkins Lloyd Jones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSafe at Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ring Lardner: A Biography Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSan Francisco Seals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConcert Musings by the Cosmic Chef Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Bell Still Rings: My Life of Defiance and Song Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMusic vs The Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBull Trains to Deadwood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhite Plains, New York: A City of Contrasts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of College Football in South Carolina: Glory on the Gridiron Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Real Life Taxi Driver: A Biography of Arthur Herman Bremer (The Real Inspiration of Travis Bickle) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEyewitness to the Harlem Hellfighters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Galveston Buccaneers: Shearn Moody and the 1934 Texas League Championship Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsToronto Sketches 11: "The Way We Were" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden History of Louisiana's Jazz Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Travis Club Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Stone Age: Sixty Years of The Rolling Stones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReturn to Glory: The Story of Clemson's Historic 2015 Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEast Fishkill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cincinnati Reds: 1900-1950 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPete Seeger vs. The Un-Americans: A Tale of the Blacklist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSinclair Lewis Remembered Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSterling Township: 1875-1968 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anymore for Anymore: The Ronnie Lane Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Age of Wonder - Behind the Story (A Book Companion) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
United States History For You
Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Kids: A National Book Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Untold History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wright Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Right Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Sisters in Black: The Bizarre True Case of the Bathtub Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Middletown
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Middletown - Marvin H. Cohen
gentleman.
INTRODUCTION
The Historical Society of Middletown and the Wallkill Precinct once published a yearbook, beginning in the year 1953. The 1957 edition focused on the New York, Ontario and Western Railway and was written by Thomas B. Girard. I had known Mr. Girard for many years and, one day, encountering him in the post office, asked how I could obtain a copy of the book. He said, Give me $2 and I’ll sign you up as a member of the historical society.
So, of course, I did.
Like many members, I never visited the museum or became active in historical society affairs until a very good friend, Charles L. Radzinsky, encouraged me to come down on Wednesday afternoons, when the building was open to the public. Rad
was then the curator, and I tried to help out while at the same time staying out of his way—no easy task. When he became ill and later passed away, I was named curator and, shortly thereafter, was elected president of the group.
The Historical Society of Middletown was formed as long ago as 1923, but it was not until 1939 that the beautiful home at 25 East Avenue was donated to the group by Mrs. Edwin Welling Van Duzer. Many historical artifacts repose in its collections, along with an extensive photograph library. Virtually all of the photographs in this book are from the society’s archives. Of course, there are many people and homes, businesses and industries, woods and fields of which we have no photographs. Each reader who possesses old photographs of Middletown is encouraged to remember the historical society when disposing of them.
This book is not a complete history of Middletown. It is a compendium of old photographs, which should, at the very least, satisfy the query—So that’s what that building was!
Today’s Middletown, although bereft of most of its major industries, is still a vibrant community, located in the heart of Orange County. Now, step back in time and visit the city in these photographs that recall the years from the 1850s to the 1950s.
This map from the 1850s shows Middletown as an octagon. Note how the railroad snaked through town.
One
EARLY DAYS
The historic building of Matthews Brothers Carpet Bag Factory, on North Street, still stands and has housed Ayres and Galloway Hardware Company for many years. This photograph dates from c. 1868.
This historical photograph shows Sweet’s Hotel in the 1870s. This site was on North Street next to the railroad tracks. The Monticello stagecoach waits in front of the door. The man on the porch in the white hat, just right of the horse’s head, is reputed to be famed editor Horace Greeley. The proprietor Halstead Sweet stands just above the horse’s ear.
This early photograph shows Ira M. Corwin’s establishment, which was on North Street, opposite Sweet’s Hotel. The building still stands today. Many people remember Weber’s Men’s Store, which occupied the site for many years.
The famed North Street building called Gothic Hall was the home of the Middletown Evening Press in this 1870s view. Local feminist Lydia Sayer Hasbrouck was married to the editor of the paper and often wrote for it. Her own newspaper the Sybil, which championed women’s dress reform,