The Drake Hotel

At the beginning of the 18^th century, almost all of Sullivan County was secured by patents, including Hardenberg Patent (or Great Patent) (Quinlan 1873:9-11). Over time, these land holdings were sub-divided into Great Lots, which were in turn divided into smaller lots that were then sold off, but despite the land sales, the area remained only sparsely settled until after the Revolutionary War (Quinlan 1873: 11, 111-114). One of the impediments to settlement was the hostilities between the European settlers and the Native American population, who were at times under the sway of the French, and later the British.

Following the Revolutionary War, the construction of transportation networks, including the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike, which linked Newburgh and the Delaware River at Cochecton, encouraged movement into the area. The Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike, chartered in 1801, was among the first in the state (Wakefield 1970:2-3). It was the brainchild of a group of Newburgh businessmen, who wished to see an increase in the flow of goods between their riverfront stores and the interior. Shortly after the establishment of the turnpike, the increase in population led to the formation of Sullivan County from Ulster County. Settlement focused on areas such as Bloomingburg, Monticello and Liberty, with smaller villages, such as Wurtsboro, growing up along the Delaware & Hudson Canal (referred to as the D & H Canal), which was chartered in 1823. In addition to the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike and the D & H Canal, which brought people and business to the area, there was also a lead mine and smelting facilities, as well as tanneries, a mainstay of the Catskill Mountain economy in the early years of the 19^th century. The exploitation of the hemlock, used to tan the leather, led to a collapse of the tanning industry, but at the time of the Civil War it was boasted that over 80 percent of the boots and leather goods used by the Union Army were supplied from the tanneries of Sullivan County (Wakefield 1970:6). The construction of the railroads through Sullivan County, which began along the Delaware River in the 1840s and elsewhere in the 1860s and 1870s, doomed the turnpikes and canals. The railroad provided easy access to markets for many of the farming communities in the county, but it also provided the route by which tourists came to Sullivan County, generating the summer vacation industry that was the mainstay of the county’s economy for many years. The first of the railroads to reach central Sullivan County was the New York & Oswego Midland Railroad, which, upon its bankruptcy in 1880, was acquired by the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, referred to locally as the “Old & Weary.”

In the western portion of Forestburgh, there is an area that was historically known as Drakestown. Drakestown was settled by Zephaniah, Joseph, Adam, Nathan and Luther Drake, who had originally settled in coastal New Jersey. Joseph came in 1793 or 1794, with the others arriving during the next three years. Ira Drake, whose house was immediately west of the project area on the east bank of the Mongaup River, was a prominent member of his community, acting as a Justice of the Peace between 1837 and 1844. According to the local histories, the Drakes were hardy, industrious, worthy men who were respected at home and abroad. A. Drake owned a hotel to the east of the Mongaup River. To the north of the Drake hotel was a structure shown as belonging to the heirs of S. Drake, the wife of Zephaniah Drake. Child’s Directory lists Alonzo C. Drake as a resident of the Town of Forestburgh. Child’s Directory does not include a listing for the Drake Hotel, so it is likely that the hotel was established sometime between 1873 and 1875.

The Drake hotel remained standing until after 1911. The creation of the Rio Reservoir changed the patterns of traffic in the western portion of Forestburgh and it is likely that the Drake family went out of business. The changing of the economic environment, two wars and the progress of time has erased nearly all evidence of the Drake family hotel. Currently all that remains is a wooden placard nailed to a tree and stone ruins that identify the location of the hotel.

The Transition of Farming in the Hudson River Region

In the early part of the century, prior to 1830, 80 percent of Hudson Valley residents were farmers and engaged in agriculture. These farmers were a mix of English, Dutch, Irish and Italian immigrants.
The immigrants who arrived in the mid 19^th Century found a landscape on the cusp of change. In 1827, the Erie Canal was completed. The New York –Albany Rail Road opened in 1831, and commercial products were easily and quickly transported the mid-western portions of the county. The advancements in the movement of goods precipitated the needs of mass produced agricultural products.s as well as the first generation of Americans. Post Revolutionary War immigrations and the industrial age had not yet begun, and quite manor farms were located within the River Valley. These farmers actively worked self-sustaining farms and maintained a bargaining or exchange market system.

By mid-century the number of residents employed by mills or warehouses along the river, or working for the canals or other transport systems, was substantial (Wermuth, 2001). Neither Wermuth (2001) nor Daniels (1990), give figures on how many persons this significant number would include, but undoubtedly the half million people newly arrived in the country were either employed or seeking work. The immigrant labor fed the industrial market and helped bring about a change in the agricultural market systems. The power of industry and the mass populations made the Empire State the leading supplier of finished goods and labor (Wermuth, 2001).

Due to the high demand for labor and workers the mid 19^th Century, immigrants tended to monopolize certain labor fields, essentially creating ethnic communal groups within the Hudson River Valley. There was great importance of an individual’s membership in specific cultural groups, and the tendency of generations and ethnic groups to specialize in specific occupations. Towards the middle of the century and into the latter years (1860-1890) there were significant changes in the immigration patterns, “with the influx of ethnic groups primarily from the northwestern portions of Europe” (Daniels 1990 p. 121). This changed the dynamic of the Hudson Valley region and restructured the market system of the Hudson River Valley.

Despite the influx of immigrants, the change in market systems and the blossoming of the industrial age, the Hudson Valley region continued agriculturally. In the years beyond 1850 “most residents of the Hudson Valley earned their livelihoods from agriculture” (Wermuth, 2001 p. 136). However, these farmers and their extended families altered their crops and livestock holdings to meet the market demand. In addition to this change in farm production, many families began to produce market goods on the farm. Hudson Valley farmers altered their production and consumption patterns in response to the transportation and industrial developments of the 19^th century (Wermuth, 2001). These economizing farmers were sustained by demands from the Midwest not only for agricultural products but also for farm-produced goods, such as homespun fabrics, tools, shoes and homemade linens such as quilts.

In addition to cultivating their farm to meet market needs, farmers also networked as laborers to neighboring farms or industries, this is especially true for large families who could spare working hands on their own farms (Wermuth, 2001). New families to the region, as well as young family farms, would need the additional help during harvests and planting seasons. Other farms increased their tilled acreage to increase crop production and sell a greater amount at market (Wermuth, 1998). With additional help, farms could specialize to an even greater level, and by doing so control the market on “products such as stave manufacturing and dairying” (Wermuth, 2001 p. 138).

By the late 1840’s, as well as in the generations there after, economic control was no longer in the hands of Hudson Valley farmers, or even the residents. Stockholders, shareholder and owners of the transportation industries, such as the New York Hudson Rail Road and the Delaware and Hudson Canal managed the transportation of goods both entering and exiting the Hudson River region (Wermuth, 2001). They dictated the carrying costs, regulated wages and managed the flow of traffic along the canals and rails (Wermuth, 2001). Generally speaking these stockholders were not residents of the Hudson River region, but resided in New York City or in the western region of the United States; some stockholders as far away as California.

Daniels, Roger. (1990). Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life. New York. Harper Collins.

Wermuth, Thomas (2001). Rip Van Winkle’s Neighbors: The Transformation of Rural Society in the Hudson River Valley, 1720-1850.  State University of New York Press. Albany.