The Delaware River Gap was a large break in the Appalachian Mountains. It was one of the very scenic places viewed by timber rafters as they floated their rafts to market on the Delaware River. Postcard of Aida Austin. The … Continue reading
Photo of ice breaking up under the Barryville-Shohola Bridge with a middle support. Photo courtesy of M.B. Austin. One very cold morning, about the first of January 1865, three teams of horses and mules were crossing the Barryville-Shohola bridge with … Continue reading
This letter was written to Mary Ann Austin in Eldred, New York, from her niece, Addie Austin who lived in New York City. The bridge referred to is the Barryville-Shohola Bridge over the Delaware River, shown in the posts before … Continue reading
During the winter, large quantities of lumber from the Halfway Brook mills were drawn to Barryville, made into rafts, then taken to Handsome Eddy, two or three miles further down the river. There they waited for the spring freshets. At … Continue reading
It was the beginning of December 1815. A lone log house and sawmill stood silently on almost two acres of cleared land near the middle of Halfway Brook, in the Town of Lumberland, New York. There were no other buildings … Continue reading
Sears Gardner was the Town of Lumberland’s supervisor in 1825, when a school was started for children in the area of Halfway Brook Village and Barryville. James Eldred, was the Town Clerk, Commissioner of Highways, and in July, Town Marshall. … Continue reading
Getting food and necessities for living was quite challenging in Lumberland’s early days. Needed items were purchased from the Village of Newburgh—about sixty miles from Lumberland. The round trip on the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike took a week. Farm produce, cattle, and … Continue reading
Cochecton In 1754, Connecticut Yankees established Cushetunk and claimed the Delaware River’s west bank for the Colony of Connecticut. Cochecton, (cuh-SHEK-ton), means low land; also called the flats. The land is rich and fertile and full of fish and game. … Continue reading
In 1800, Lumberland (then two years old), had a population of 733, most of whom had lumber-related jobs. Saw-mills operated on various streams. Halfway Brook was said to have had ten sawmills on its nine miles. Enormous amounts of lumber … Continue reading
The Halfway Brook (there is another one in New York) I write about, is in a most gorgeous area called the Upper Delaware River Region, in New York State. This Halfway Brook was the name of a nine-mile stream, before … Continue reading
