There were some stores in Barryville and Eldred, but townsfolk continued to travel to Port Jervis for the household items they needed. John B. Jervis, for whom Port Jervis (Carpenter’s Point) was named, had been the chief engineer of the D&H Canal.
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Jervis was one of the great 19th century engineers. He designed and oversaw the construction of the Croton Aqueduct and water system built to serve New York City. He was involved in several major railroad projects and the iron industry.—minisink.org.
Though it was many years later, in the 50s actually, I was invited at the end of every summer vacation (spent in Barryville) to “go shopping” for school supplies in Port Jervis.
It was a lot of fun to shop there in the 5 and 10 cents store and Pennys where cylinders on cables carried your money to a central check-out on the floor above and returned with your change and receipt to the main floor “cashier”.
I also got to know more of the routes from Barryville to Port Jervis via the drive from Mail Road in Barryville through to Eldred and then through Glen Spey down to Rte 97 just close to the approach to the Hawks Nest.
Port Jervis remained a viable shopping area until the more popular shopping malls were built in the surrounding areas.