Multiple hamlets flooded to make way for NYC water supply
‘Lost nearly all the land settled in the early 1700s”
Eight hamlets in Ulster County that once boomed with bucolic retreats, tight-knit communities and the bluestone industry were razed and flooded to make way for a clean and abundant water source to serve New York City residents.
Construction for the Ashokan Reservoir began in 1907 and was completed in 1915. During that time, thousands of residents were displaced by way of eminent domain, and their communities – homes, schools, businesses – were flooded to construct the 8,315-acre reservoir.
The last official photo of Bishop Falls, now located 180-feet below water at the deepest part of the Ashokan Reservoir.
Today, Bishop Falls, a beautiful, cascading scene of waterfalls, is now submerged 180-plus-feet below water at the deepest part of the reservoir. In all, more than 500 homes were destroyed, along with several schools, post offices and businesses in the hamlets of West Hurley, Glenford, and Ashton.
“To this very day I bear a dislike to the people who took my beautiful town and divided it two parts,” town historian Vera Sickler wrote. “They took the little Hamlets along the Esopus Creek where loved a contented and Happy people and scattered them like chaff in the Wind.”
According to Sickler’s account, local families had to hire lawyers and “practically beg for the money due them for their property so they could be located in another area. Some of the houses and land had been in the families for generations. We lost nearly all the land settled in the early 1700s.”
At the time, Sickler’s father sued New York City for taking 80 acres of the family farm, including a “just set” apple orchard. But his case and nearly half of the 90 other court cases were dismissed.
“Their claims were just as this was the way they made their living,” Sickler wrote. “The lawyers became rich and the poor people who had lost everything were left out in the cold to start over again.”
But what was life like in those areas before it was flooded? In addition to an abundance of bluestone, according to the Hurley Historical Society, “Pot cheese (similar to cottage cheese) was produced in such quantity that it was rumored that there were cheese mines in the hills.”
Learn more about “Visiting Old West Hurley” with a free virtual Zoom presentation hosted by Kara Keene and the West Hurley Library on Thursday, March 27, 2025 from 7-8pm. Here’s the Zoom link.
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