Bridgeville, New York

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Bridgeville is a hamlet southeast of Monticello, New York (the county seat) located in the southern Catskill Mountains in the township of Thompson, County of Sullivan, and State of New York, U.S.A.

1 Attractions
2 Demographics
3 Geography
4 History
5 Hydrology
6 Sources and Footnotes
7 Other External Links
8 Maps and Aerial Photos
9 Weather

[edit] Attractions

The Neversink River is well known for fly-fishing and Bridgeville is a popular location for fishermen. Bridgeville is also the site of Holiday Mountain Ski Park.

[edit] Demographics

Since Bridgeville is not a corporate entity and does not have a post office of its own, population figures are not available. See Town of Thompson for area demographic information. Bridgeville shares a Zip Code with nearby Monticello of 12701 and telephone area code 845.

[edit] Geography

Bridgeville is located at 41°38'3"N 74°37'10"W; with hilly terrain, its elevation is 1,081 feet. It is located on the Neversink River on New York State Route 17 (future Interstate 86).

[edit] History

Bridgeville, NY historic 1807 bridge marker.

Indigenous inhabitants of this area included members of the Algonquin and Lene Lenape (aka Delaware) tribes.

Bridgeville was the site of the first covered bridge in New York State, built in 1807 to facilitate construction of the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike (1), a major frontier thoroughfare connecting communities on the Delaware and Hudson rivers. From Newburgh, the turnpike took the route of the modern N.Y. State Route 17K to Bloomingburg in the Town of Mamakating, from there following the present N.Y. State Route 17 (future I-86), and thence for the entire length of N.Y. State Route 17B from Monticello west to Cochecton, on the upper Delaware. The ambitious project of building this road opened new territory for European conquest/development, spread commerce and greatly enhanced the tanning industry, which subsequently provided much of the leather used in boots for Union soldiers during the American Civil War. The old bridge was demolished in 1923, replaced by the present-day span (Sullivan County Bridge #285) over the Neversink River. According to a marker that was placed on the original bridge, the architect was Maj. Salmon Wheat, a farmer who lived near the present village of Howells (2); and directors of the company were Jacob Powell (3), president; George Manell, treasurer; William H. Veller, secretary; Jonathan Hedges, a Newburgh physician(4); Charles Clinton; Levi Dodge; Daniel Stringham; Jonathan Fisk, a Newburgh attorney (5); Cyprian Webster, Jr.; Reuben Neely, member of New York State Assembly (6); Daniel C. Verplank of Fishkill (7); Hamilton Morrison, later a Commissoner of Common Schools for the Town of New Windsor (8); and David Crawford, a Hudson River boat captain (9) whose former residence now houses the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands (10).

In July 1994 a civil judgment was entered against the Town of Thompson in New York State Supreme Court, in the Matter of the application of Edwin Olmstead for a Judgment under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules mandating proper care of the old Hoyt Cemetery in Bridgeville. (11)

In 2004, in anticipation of the settlement of long-standing legal claims to ancient tribal lands, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community filed a land trust application for approximately 330 acres in Bridgeville, and the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York announced a venture with the owner of the Monticello Raceway, Empire Resorts, to build a $500 million casino adjacent to the Monticello Raceway. However, as a result of the United States Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in City of Sherrill, NY v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York, 125 S. Ct. 1478 (March 29, 2005), Gov. George Pitaki withdrew pending legislation and land claim settlements with the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, the Cayuga Nation of New York, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. The withdrawal did not include a separate proposal by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, whose land claim was not affected by the Sherrill case. In light of these developments, the only casino development that, as of August 2005, seemed imminent in Sullivan or Ulster Counties was the one planned by the St. Regis Mohawks. (12)

[edit] Hydrology

Bridgeville is the site of one of several water meters called "flow targets" (13) by which the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation monitors the fish habitat, water levels and temperature below the Neversink Dam. The confluence of the Neversink and the upper Delaware River is about 16 miles downstream. Readings from Bridgeville and similar flow targets at Hale Eddy and Harvard are reported to the Delaware River Basin Commission for use in controlling flow releases (14) in providing drinking water to the river basin which includes greater metropolitan New York City, Philadelphia, and Trenton.

[edit] Sources and Footnotes

(2) Rock Hill Business and Community Association (2005). Visit the Old Days of Rock Hill: The History of Our Community, Part 4 Fords, Bridges, and Roads. Page includes an image of an antique photograph of the original covered bridge.

(3) Sam'l W. Eager (1846). An Outline History of Orange County and their Etymologies or Historical Reasons Therefor; Together With Local Traditions And Short Biographical Sketches of Early Settlers, Etc., Newburgh, N.Y.: S.T. Callahan, p. 43.

(4) Henry P. Hedges (1849). History of East Hampton, New York, Genealogy of East Hampton Families, s.v. The Hedges Family, Sag Harbor, N.Y.: S.J. Hunt.

(5) Friends of Old Town Cemetery (2005). Interesting people in the cemetery, Jonathan Fisk, hosted on the website of the Newburgh Preservation Association.

(6) Jo Anne Fatherly, transcriber (2001). The German Patent: Early Records of Newburgh, New York, Village and Town of Newburgh Records 1803-1838.

(7) A.J. Bloor (1890). The American Architect and Building News, Vol. 27, No. 733, January 11, 1890, The VerPlanck Homestead, Fishkill, New York, hosted by Project Gutenberg, Release Date: March 11, 2005 (EBook #15322).

(8) Glenn T. Marshall (2003). Town of New Windsor Historic Records On-Line, Precinct Records, 1763-1779, hosted on the website of the Town of New Windsor by the office of the town historian.

(9) City of Beacon, N.Y. (2005). Regional Points of Interest, s.v. "Crawford House".

(10) Hudsonriver.com (2005). Hudson Valley Museums and Historic Sites in Historic River Towns of Westchester, s.v. Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands.

(11) Matter of the application of Edwin Olmstead for a Judgment under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (1994), Order by Justice Robert S. Williams, accompanying Minutes of a Meeting About Gravestones held between members of Monticello Lodge #532, Free & Accepted Masons and officials of the Town of Thompson on June 13, 1996.

Sullivan County Genweb (2002). Cemetery listings of Sullivan County, hosted on the website of the Rootsweb, a free genealogy community affiliated with MyFamily.com Inc.

(12) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2004). Report of Seneca Gaming Corporation for fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, Commission file number 333-117633, Washington, DC.

(13) Delaware River Basin Commission (2005). Understanding Flow Management in the Delaware River Basin, 2004 Flow Report, DRBC website hosted by the State of New Jersey.

(14) New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (1980). 6 NYCRR Part 671, Reservoir Releases Regulations: Cannonsville, Pepacton And Neversink Reservoirs, (Statutory authority: Environmental Conservation Law, §§1-0l01, 3-0301, 15-0805).