- Bridgeville, New York
Bridgeville is a hamlet southeast of
Monticello, New York (thecounty seat ) located in the southernCatskill Mountains in the Town of Thompson, County of Sullivan, andState of New York ,U.S.A. Bridgeville is located on theNeversink River onNew York State Route 17 (future Interstate 86), at an elevation of convert|1081|ft|m. It has hilly terrain.Since Bridgeville is not a
corporate entity and does not have apost office of its own,population figures are not available. See Town of Thompson for areademographic information. Bridgeville shares aZip Code with nearby Monticello of 12701 andtelephone area code 845.Attractions
The
Neversink River is well known for fly-fishing and Bridgeville is a popular location forfishermen . Bridgeville is also the site of Holiday Mountain SkiPark .History
Indigenous inhabitants of this area included members of the
Algonquin and Lene Lenape (aka Delaware)tribe s.Bridgeville was the site of the first
covered bridge inNew York State , built in 1807 to facilitate construction of the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike (1), a majorfrontier thoroughfare connectingcommunities 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 fromMonticello west to Cochecton, on the upper Delaware. The ambitious project of building thisroad opened new territory forEurope an conquest/development, spreadcommerce and greatly enhanced thetanning industry , which subsequently provided much of theleather used inboot s for Union soldiers during theAmerican 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 originalbridge , thearchitect was Maj. Salmon Wheat, afarmer 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 Newburghphysician (4); Charles Clinton; Levi Dodge; Daniel Stringham; Jonathan Fisk, a Newburghattorney (5); Cyprian Webster, Jr.; Reuben Neely, member ofNew York State Assembly (6); Daniel C. Verplank ofFishkill (7); Hamilton Morrison, later a Commissoner of Common Schools for the Town of New Windsor (8); and David Crawford, aHudson 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 HoytCemetery in Bridgeville. (11)In 2004, in anticipation of the settlement of long-standing legal claims to Indian reservation lands, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community filed a
land trust application for approximately convert|330|acre|km2 in Bridgeville, and the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York announced a venture with the owner ofMonticello Raceway , Empire Resorts, to build a $500 millioncasino adjacent to the Monticello Raceway. However, as a result of theUnited 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 Pataki withdrew pendinglegislation and land claim settlements with the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe ofOklahoma , the Cayuga Nation of New York, the Oneida Nation ofWisconsin , 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)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 thefish habitat, water levels andtemperature below the NeversinkDam . The confluence of the Neversink and the upperDelaware River is about convert|16|mi|km 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 providingdrinking water to the river basin which includes greater metropolitan New York City, Philadelphia, and Trenton.ources and Footnotes
(2) Rock Hill Business and Community Association (2005). Visit the Old Days of Rock Hill: The History of Our Community, Part 4 [http://www.rockhillny.org/hist4.htm Fords, Bridges, and Roads] . Page includes an image of an antique photograph of the original covered bridge.
(3) Sam'l W. Eager (1846). [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/orange/history/newb43.htm "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). [http://longislandgenealogy.com/histehampton.html "History of East Hampton, New York"] , Genealogy of East Hampton Families, s.v. [http://longislandgenealogy.com/geneh2.html The Hedges Family] , Sag Harbor, N.Y.: S.J. Hunt.
(5) Friends of Old Town Cemetery (2005). "Interesting people in the cemetery", [http://www.preservenewburgh.org/cem/Fisk.htm Jonathan Fisk] , hosted on the website of the [http://www.preservenewburgh.org Newburgh Preservation Association] .
(6) Jo Anne Fatherly, transcriber (2001). "The German Patent: Early Records of Newburgh, New York", [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Bridge/3962/1803/newbrg8.htm 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, [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15322/15322-h/15322-h.htm#THE_VEKPLANCK_HOMESTEAD_FISHKILL_NY The VerPlanck Homestead, Fishkill, New York] , hosted by
Project Gutenberg , Release Date: March 11, 2005 (EBook #15322).(8) Glenn T. Marshall (2003). [http://town.new-windsor.ny.us/Histindex.htm "Town of New Windsor Historic Records On-Line"] , [http://town.new-windsor.ny.us/1763-2.htm 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. " [http://www.cityofbeacon.org/Tour/TourRegionalAttractions.htm#Crawford%20House Crawford House] ".
(10) Hudsonriver.com (2005). Hudson Valley Museums and Historic Sites in "Historic River Towns of Westchester", s.v. [http://www.hudsonriver.com/museums.htm#newburgh Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands] .
(11) [http://www.mastermason.com/monticellolodge/hx/order.pdf "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 [http://www.mastermason.com/monticellolodge/hx/cemetery.htm 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). [http://www.rootsweb.com/~nysulliv/cemlist.htm 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). [http://www.getfilings.com/o0001104659-05-021401.htmlAnnual 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). [http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/04flowreport/understanding.pdf Understanding Flow Management in the Delaware River Basin] , "2004 Flow Report", [http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/ DRBC website] hosted by the
State of New Jersey .(14) New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (1980). [http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/regs/part671.html 6 NYCRR Part 671, Reservoir Releases Regulations: Cannonsville, Pepacton And Neversink Reservoirs] , (Statutory authority: Environmental Conservation Law, §§1-0l01, 3-0301, 15-0805).
Other external links
* [http://bridgeville.tomrue.net A few historical items pertaining to Bridgeville, N.Y.]
* [http://www.holidaymtn.com Holiday Mountain Ski and Fun Park]Maps and aerial photos
* Street map from [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.634305,-74.618368&spn=0.013468,0.039750&t=h&hl=en Google Maps]
* [http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?newFL=Use+Address+Below&addr=&csz=BRIDGEVILLE%2C+NY&.intl=us&name=&lat=&lon=&srchtype=a&qty=&new=1&trf=0&get
]
* Topographic map from [http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lat=41.63417&lon=-74.61944 TopoQuest]
* Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA ( [http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t=2&s=14&x=166&y=1440&z=18&w=2&qs=%7cBRIDGEVILLE%7cNY%7c 1986 image] ) ( [http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=14&x=166&y=1440&z=18&w=2&qs=%7cBRIDGEVILLE%7cNY%7c 1996 image] )
* Satellite image from [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.634305,-74.618368&spn=0.013468,0.039750&t=h&hl=en Google Maps] or [http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=38.742375|-75.601551&style=h&lvl=13&v=1 Microsoft Virtual Earth]Weather
* [http://newyork.skireport.com/holidaymountain/weather/ Holiday Mountain current weather and weather forecast]
* [http://www.onthesnow.com/NY/177/weather.html Holiday Mountain weather]
* [http://www.theweathernetwork.com/features/ski/pages/USNY1647.htm Weather at Holiday Mountain, New York]
* [http://www.wunderground.com/ski/ny/ Ski Conditions at Holiday Mountain]
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