Garnerville, previously known as Calicotown, is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in the
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Haverstraw
Haverstraw is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the w ...
,
Rockland County
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, United States, located north of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
; east of
Mount Ivy; south of
Stony Point and west of
West Haverstraw
West Haverstraw is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village incorporated in 1883 in the town of Haverstraw, New York, Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located no ...
. Most of the hamlet is within the West Haverstraw village, while a small portion of Garnerville defaults to the town of Haverstraw.
The hamlet was named after the Garner family, who operated a textile printing industry called Garner Printworks on Minisceongo Creek near Railroad Avenue beginning in 1838. East of where the Garner printworks operated is the abandoned Calico Hill Cemetery.
The community is bisected by
U.S. Route 202
U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massa ...
. The Haverstraw town hall is located in the hamlet, along with several small shopping centers and the King's Daughters Library. The schools in Garnerville include North Garnerville Elementary School and
St. Gregory Barbarigo Parochial School; the hamlet is part of the
North Rockland Central School District
The North Rockland Central School District is a public school district that serves northern Rockland County, New York, as well as a part of Orange County. It consists of about 7,000 students in 8 schools in grades K–12. The current distric ...
.
Rockland Community College
Rockland Community College (RCC) is a public community college in the town of Ramapo, New York in Rockland County. It is part of the State University of New York. The college, established in 1959, became the 18th community college to join the ...
symbolically recognized David J. Rojas of Garnerville as the "millionth graduate" of the
State University of New York
The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...
(SUNY) at the 46th commencement ceremony held on June 3, 2007.
History
Around 1760, Cornelius Osborn built a grist mill at a waterfall on the Minisceongo Creek; this later became the site of the Calico Works. In 1828, a rolling mill and a nail factory were established a bit upstream on the site of a former grist mill by John I. and George Suffern. From 1850 to 1858, John I. Suffern manufactured coarse wrapping paper at that location.
[Green, Frank Bertangue. "Garnerville", ''The History of Rockland County'', A.S. Barnes, 1886, pp. 386-387]
Also in 1828, Scotsman John Glass purchased forty-five acres south of the Minisceongo for a calico print works. On June 7, 1831, Glass was loading goods to be shipped to New York City on board the ''General Jackson'', docked at
Grassy Point, New York. The steamboat's boiler exploded, killing fourteen people, including Glass. In 1838 the property was purchased by James and Thomas Garner and Charles Wells. The Garner print works prospered; buildings were enlarged and extended. The works employed about 800 people, and a village sprang up around the factory, to be called "Garnerville". In 1853 the Rockland Print Works Company was incorporated for the purpose of "Printing and Dyeing Woolen, Cotton, and Linen Goods."
[
During the Civil War, the Rockland Print Works made uniforms for the Union Army. The Garnerville Railroad was a spur that ran from the print works to the ]New Jersey and New York Railroad
The New Jersey and New York Railroad (NJ&NY) was a railroad company that operated north from Rutherford, New Jersey, to Haverstraw, New York beginning in the mid-to-late 19th century.Please see the 1891 maps of West Haverstraw and Haverstraw v ...
at Miner's Creek.''Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of New York for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1902, Part 2, Weed, Parsons and Company, 1903, p. 630
/ref>
In 1840, Resolve Waldron and Charles Benson established a chemical factory for the manufacture of pyroligneous acid
Pyroligneous acid, also called wood vinegar or wood acid, is a dark liquid produced by the destructive distillation of wood and other plant material Composition
The principal components of pyroligneous acid are 10% acetic acid, acetone and metha ...
, much used in calico printing. The business closed in 1843, but was revived the following year by William Knight at a location near Cedar Pond.[
The Garnerville post office was established in June 1875; John D. Norris was US postmaster for the hamlet.
]
Historical markers
*Calico Hill - 31 West Railroad Avenue
*Garner Works - 55 West Railroad Avenue
Landmarks and places of interest
*Garner Mansion Site - Railroad Avenue
*King's Daughters Public Library - 10 W. Ramapo Road
*Garnerville Arts and Industrial Center - 55 W. Railroad Avenue. This is a not-for-profit art center with over 14 of unique performance and exhibition space. The center is in a landmark pre-Civil War factory complex.
References
External links
Rockland Community College Millionth Graduate
{{Rockland County, New York
Hamlets in New York (state)
Hamlets in Rockland County, New York