Middletown

Marvin H. Cohen

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN: 9780738508665
• eBook ISBN: 9781439628102
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Located in the heart of Orange County, the city of Middletown was first settled c. 1760. The hamlet became a village in 1848 and a city in 1888. Long noted for its dairy farming, Middletown gained its reputation as a railroad center beginning in 1843 with the coming of the New York & Erie Rail Road. That reputation remained until 1957, when Middletown's other major railroad, the famed New York, Ontario & Western Railway, was abandoned. With more than two hundred historical images, Middletown celebrates the people, places, and event that over the years helped shape this progressive community. Picture are period street scenes, homes by noted local architect Frank Lindsey, Clemson Park with is famous Japanese garden, and highly ornate buildings that are still in use, such as the Orange County Community College and the Middletown Thrall Library. All of these centered around a thriving business district, strong industries, and up-to-date transportation.

Four

HOMES AND STREET SCENES

The Edwin Welling Van Duzer home, at 25 East Avenue, is all decorated for Independence Day of 1902. The building is now the home of the Historical Society of Middletown and the Wallkill Precinct. The museum is open to the public on Wednesday afternoons.

This early photograph shows the new Middletown Post Office building and Middletown Bank on North Street in 1873. King Street is behind the person who took this picture.

This photograph was taken in August 1924. The First National Bank has now been constructed in the North Street section shown in the previous photograph.

With Gertrude Chambers beside him, Oscar Chambers drives a wagon along Montgomery Street c. 1907. In the bed is James Cutler. The building in the background is the Monhagen-McQuoid firehouse, site of today’s Central Fire Station.

This view looking up East Main Street toward Franklin Square was taken from the Monhagen-McQuoid firehouse. Many of the buildings in this 1906 scene are long gone. In the distance on the left is the spire of the Second Presbyterian Church. It is interesting to compare this photograph with the one below.

This c. 1938 photograph was taken looking up East Main Street from the balcony of Central Fire Station. Webb Horton Church has now been built. The Socony station sells gasoline at six gallons for $1. Socony was an acronym for Standard Oil Company of New York. The Sportsmen’s Grill and Morgan’s Drug Store were longtime fixtures in this area. The streamlined Texaco tank truck looks far more modern than the automobiles around it.

Mayor Robert Lawrence turns the first shovelful of dirt as construction of the new city hall gets under way. The building, on James Street, was opened in 1912. Immediately behind the mayor, in a bow tie, is Charles Higham, Middletown’s fire chief.

This view shows West Main Street at the corner of James Street. The property on the right behind trees is now police headquarters. The building on the extreme right has a sign for “Knapp and Merritt, Undertakers.” Little in this scene still exists today.

Barney’s Super Service Station, at the ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• Dedication
• INTRODUCTION
• One - EARLY DAYS
• Two - BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
• Three - EDUCATION AND HOSPITALS
• Four - HOMES AND STREET SCENES
• Five - PEOPLE
• Six - FIRE AND POLICE
• Seven - ENTERTAINMENT
• Eight - TRANSPORTATION
• Nine - MILITARY
• Ten - THE CLEMSONS