Debruce, New York

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Debruce is a small hamlet located in Sullivan County, New York.

[edit] Geography

Debruce is about 5 miles east of Livingston Manor, New York, on the confluence of Willowemoc Creek and Mongaup Creek. It is located at 41°55' North, 74°44' West (41.917, -74.733)^GR1

[edit] History

Debruce was once a resort town, catering to fly fishermen. George LeBranch, author of The Dry Fly and Fast Water in 1914, who had his home in Debruce, famously cast his first dry fly there. The DeBruce Club Inn, first owned by Charles B. Ward, was also there. The Inn offered a nine hole golf course, tennis courts and fishing on several miles of the choicest water on the upper Willowemoc. During its heydays in the 1930s and 1940s it was a popular destination for sportsmen from the city, famous for its food and smiling hostesses. In the early 1900s one of LeBranch's favorite dry flies was called the pink lady--pale pink floss ribbed with gold tinsel, duck wings, ginger hackle and tail on a #12 hook. Amusingly, a favorite drink at the Inn was also called the pink lady--gin, grenadine, apple brandy, lemon juice and cracked ice, strained into a stemmed glass. The Inn was torn down in 1970.

DeBruce was, in its earliest days, a site for one of the Catskills' largest tanneries, employing over 100 men shortly after it was established in 1856. This industry relied on the easy availability of water and hemlock trees--its bark was one of the cheapest supplies of tannin available. The trees were cut down (about 5% of the forests thereabouts were hemlocks) and their bark was peeled off, leaving the timber to rot. The leather was processed in factories near the water and often actually in the forest. The industry quickly depleted the trees, peaking in about 1870, and was entirely gone from the Catskills by 1895, much to the relief of the trout fishermen, no doubt.

[edit] Labor Day Parade

Today, the town is renown for its "DeBruce Family Labor Day Parade." Held annually since 1993, it brings the entire community (many, if not most, summer people) out to celebrate the Autumn harvest, the end of summer, or just to be together one more year. It is ably organized by Steve Dill (pictured) who enthusiatically energizes his friends and neighbors into a frenzy of speech-making, face-painting, dancing, games, food, costumes and assorted show-and-tells. Often there is a King or Queen of the parade--Floyd Cook, the 94-year old "Mayor of the Hill" has had this honor several times. An unusual feature of the parade is its shortness. The course, which starts from Dill's front yard, stretches over about one city block, which is considerably shorter than the line of marchers and vehicles in it. Sort of circular, you might say...

In 2006 the parade featured the MountainTones Marching band, and hayrides for the kids.