Sullivan County History
You Are Here:
Thoroughfare for Dutch and Spanish miners
Bordered for scores of miles by the once deep and swift Delaware River, covered with rich forests, much of hemlock, and part of the southern tier “wedge” separating the mines of New Jersey and coal fields of Pennsylvania from Hudson River ports, Sullivan County began its existence merely as a thoroughfare for Dutch and Spanish miners in search of precious metals.
As early as the 1650’s, the Old Mine Road, today known as Route 209, cut the Mamakating Valley. Laid out by Dutch settlers, this route facilitated transport of copper and other ores from mines near the Delaware Water Gap, to waiting ships on the Hudson at Kingston. And, too, mines in the Wurtsboro area may have encouraged the settlement of people such as Manuel Gonsalus, one of Sullivan County’s first residents.
The mighty Delaware River provided easy access to more of Sullivan County. Pioneers traveling cross-country from Connecticut as early as 1757. Men such as Ben and Joseph Skinner were quick to recognize the economic value of the forested highlands surrounding their subsistence farms. There was money in lumbering and rafting spars down from Delaware for shipping in Philadelphia. The industry rapidly refined rafting techniques.
Settlement of this area was not a politically unscathed occurrence, however. Surveyors had established much of the river region as part of the Jersey Claim with a marker called Station Rock in the Delaware near Highland. Connecticut settlers in this area caused concern not only because of their land claims, but also because they infringed upon the rights of the native Indians. Warrants were issued for some of these settlers, and the Jersey Claim Wars erupted.
Two Revolutionary battles, at Chestnut Woods, near Claryville, and Minisink Ford on the Delaware signify the importance of this primarily agricultural region to the new nation. Because of these skirmishes, General George Washington ordered General John Sullivan to march through in pursuit of Brant’s Tory and Indian raiders to make the land safe for the locals. The settlers were forever grateful, as they named their county in honor of Sullivan, the war general.
Specifically, Sullivan County’s existence began with its charter in 1809, as it broke away from Ulster County. The seven townships which existed at the time eventually begat the others for today’s total of 15.
Sullivan County’s interior wilderness was opened for settlement with the construction of the Newburgh Cocheton Turnpike during the early 1800’s. During this period, significant migration from Connecticut brought many Protestants to the area.
About this same time construction along the Delaware River began for an engineering feat which brought not only prosperity to the county, but a rich and varied cultural history with it – the building of the D&H (Delaware and Hudson) Canal. The route of this waterway began in Honesdale, Pennsylvania continued along the Delaware from Lackawaxen to Port Jervis, then cut northeast through the Mamakating Valley to Kingston.
Because of the abundance of available water and hemlock bark, coupled with the completion of the canal, the tanning industry flourished in Sullivan County during this period. The canal saw much traffic in coal from Pennsylvania and raw hides sent in through Kingston.