New Year 1887

by Louise Smith Posted on January 18, 2026
New York Daily News. New York, 1887. LOC: 2003673066.
New York Daily News. New York, 1887. LOC: 2003673066.

Hello Halfway Brook Friends,

I hope your year is off to a good start. It’s been awhile since I have posted because of busy times here in November and December; and a glitch in this website’s email notification system. Hopefully, the glitch is now fixed using my new email address.

Louise

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1902 Home of Rip Van Winkle

by Louise Smith Posted on September 7, 2025
Home of Rip Van Winkle, Sleepy Hollow, Catskill Mountains. Detroit Photographic Co., ca. 1902. LOC: 2008679627.
Home of Rip Van Winkle, Sleepy Hollow, Catskill Mountains. Detroit Photographic Co., ca. 1902. LOC: 2008679627.

You may remember Washington Irving’s short story of Rip Van Winkle, first published in 1819. Rip Van Winkle was a Dutch-American villager who had a habit of avoiding work. He lived in a village at the foot of the Catskill Mountains in the years before the American Revolution.

To shorten the short story: One day Rip met a mysterious Dutchmen and a group of men playing ninepins. Rip imbibed their strong liquor and fell deeply asleep in the Catskill Mountains. When he woke up twenty years later, the world was very changed—instead of King George, there was President Washington.

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