The Neversink Gorge is located in the town of

Forestburgh, New York Forestburgh is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 808 at the 2020 census. It is where the Neversink River enters the Neversink Gorge and flows over High Falls. The ZIP code of Forestburgh, New York is 12777. ...

, USA, and is one of the more outstanding features of the

Neversink River The Neversink River (also called Neversink Creek in its upper course) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in southeastern Ne ...

. A portion of the western side of the gorge, above Denton Falls, through High Falls, to the entrance of Eden Brook, is a private nature sanctuary called The Turner Brook Reserve; the entire eastern side and the remaining western property is a

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...

(DEC) controlled Unique Area, often called the Neversink Gorge Unique Area.

History

The current borders of the Neversink Gorge Unique Area and the private lands in the Neversink Gorge were amassed as a private game preserve by Ambrose Monel in the late 1890s through the early 1900s. Monel, who was president of

International Nickel International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

and patented

Monel Monel is a group of alloys of nickel (from 52 to 67%) and copper, with small amounts of iron, manganese, carbon, and silicon. Monel is not a cupronickel alloy because it has less than 60% copper. Stronger than pure nickel, Monel alloys are res ...

Metal, was inspired by the conservation ethic established by

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

and

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

to purchase farms, tanneries and even entire towns, demolish the buildings and revert the land to its wild state. Within this sportsperson's paradise, the greatest names in American fly fishing, Edward Ringwood Hewitt, George M. L. La Branche, Justin Askins, Phil Chase, and

Theodore Gordon Theodore Gordon (September 18, 1854 – May 1, 1915) was an American writer who fished the Catskill region of New York State in the late 19th century through the early 20th century. Though he never published a book, Gordon is often called the ...

, have practiced their passion and refined their techniques. Their subsequent writings about their adventures in the area have brought many others here to hone their skills. Mullet Falls

When Monel died the property passed to the Bradford family and was then purchased by the Wechsler family in 1939. The Wechsler family, having made their fortune in coffee distribution, founded Restaurant Associates that at its peak owned 50 eateries in New York City. With this wealth Philip Wechsler hired architect Eugene Schoen to build 5 homes on Gilman Pond in Frank Lloyd Wright's

Usonian Usonia () is a word that was used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general (in preference to ''America''), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of ...

style with the turn of the century stone structure that was Monel's mansion as the central "Lodge" named by Monel, The Four Way Lodge. They dubbed this family compound The Philwold Estates (Phil Wold = Phil's Woods in German).April 1942 issue of Architectural Forum magazine The extended Wechsler family resided there for a time and gradually sold the homes off.

References

{{coord missing, Hudson Valley Canyons and gorges of New York (state) Neversink River New York (state) unique areas Protected areas of Sullivan County, New York Landforms of Sullivan County, New York