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Untitled Document
| The Digital Patchwork Quilt | | | The story of the village known today as Fleischmanns, New York, is not one story but many, that connect and overlap like pieces in a patchwork quilt.
It is a story of the people who populated the area even before it was called Griffin Corners, the first settlers who cleared the land, the industrialists who mined the quarries and harvested timber, the dairy farmers who produced butter and milk for the cities, the wealthy elite who built mansions and frequented the grand hotels, and the city dwellers who sought refuge from the heat and pollution of New York City.
It is a story of transportation, first by horse and stagecoach, then railroad, and finally motor car.
It is a story of cauliflower and kings, and fortunes won and lost. A story of immigrants finding a place to call home and vacationers basking in the beauty of Delaware County.
Above all, it is a story of water. For it was the water flowing down the Catskill mountainsides in a multitude of rivers and streams that provided power for industry, ice for refrigeration, and sustenance for life. At a time when New York City was rife with waterborne diseases, an abundance of pure spring water spawned a hotel industry.
Indeed, the reliability of this water source led to the development of the reservoir system that today provides New York City's water and prompts protection of the Catskill Watershed.
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