Deerpark

Brian J. Lewis

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2002
• Print ISBN: 9780738511078
• eBook ISBN: 9781439611739
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Bounded by three rivers and a mountain range, the town of Deerpark lies in the southwestern corner of Orange County. Once the frontier of America, the area took its name from what early settlers called their neighbor's fenced tract: McDaniel's Deer Park. The town has seven hamlets-Cahoonzie, Cuddebackville, Godeffroy, Huguenot, Rio, Sparrowbush, and Westbrookville-shaped and identified by their geography.

Deerpark highlights a community that has what is believed to be the oldest one-hundred-mile road in the country, the Old Mine Road. Appearing in this pictorial history are the Delaware and Hudson Canal, which transformed the town, and the railroad, which spawned a thriving resort industry. Also shown are filmmaker D.W. Griffith, who between 1909 and 1911 made silent movies using the mountains and rivers as a backdrop, and many ancestors of present-day residents.

Three

TRANSPORTATION AND INDUSTRY

In 1850, Maurice M. Schultz built the Sparrowbush Tannery next to the Delaware and Hudson Canal, for convenient shipping. The land was donated by A.J. Raymond. In 1867, after the tannery had two fires, Charles Cooper and George W. Swasey bought, rebuilt, and enlarged the operation and continued producing all kinds of leather goods. The tannery was the town’s first and only factory, producing as many as 50,000 hides in one year. In 1868, sales amounted to over $400,000. (Author’s collection.)

This photograph shows tannery workers holding the tools of their trade. Over the years, many new methods of tanning were developed, but the Sparrowbush Tannery used the traditional bark method. Local wooded land was stripped of oak and hemlock trees for the bark, which contained tannic acid, a key ingredient. The tannery machinery ran on a 20-horsepower steam engine built by Ray & Company of the Port Jervis Steam Engine Works. (Minisink Valley Historical Society.)

This is a late-1890s photograph of the tannery. (Nancy Dunn.)

Theodore Wallace Coleman is the man in this photograph, which was probably taken at the Sparrowbush Tannery in the late 1800s. Piles of wood are being stripped of bark, the source of tannic acid used in the tanning process. In the 1860s, 4,000 cords of bark were used annually. (Nancy Coleman-Bello.)

Mr. Hammond (far left) poses with one of his tannery work crews in the early 1900s. He ran a successful business until 1920. The business was sold in 1921 and became a shoe black and patent leather factory. The tannery burned to the ground in 1932. One building still stands near Routes 97 and 42. (Deerpark Historian’s Office.)

The tannery store was built by George Reymar. The store sold merchandise produced by the tannery. Starting in 1893, the building housed the post office. This view was taken in 1909. The house on the right is still standing. (Tom Patterson.)

This postcard shows the proximity of the tannery and the tannery store along Lower Brook Road. When George Reymar died in 1899, Conrad Happ took over the store and acted as postmaster. When the building burned c. 1905, the post office was moved to the store owned by Henry Happ, who then served as postmaster until 1915. (Glenn R. Conklin.)

The Cuddebackville suspension bridge was built c. 1850 and carried traffic until it was replaced by the first one-lane iron bridge built in the early 1900s. This photograph, looking south toward Roses Point, was taken in the 1890s. (Deerpark Historian’s Office.)

The days of wooden-suspension bridges have long since passed, b...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - HOMESTEADS, HOTELS, AND TOWN VIEWS
• Two - EDUCATION
• Three - TRANSPORTATION AND INDUSTRY