The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Chichester, New York, formerly referred to as Chichesterville, is one of the northernmost communities in the town of Shandaken, being adjacent to the borderline between

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and Greene counties. The hamlet of Chichester, New York, is not to be confused with the city in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. One difference is that, unlike the city of

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

, England, the "i" in Chichester, New York, is pronounced like "eye" instead of a vowel sound such as in the word "chip".

History

The hamlet was founded in 1863, by brothers Frank and Lemuel Chichester, whom the town is named after. The Chichester brothers were the sons of Samuel Chichester, the contractor who built the

Catskill Mountain House The Catskill Mountain House, which opened in 1824, was a famous hotel near Palenville, New York, and in the Catskill Mountains overlooking the Hudson River Valley. In its prime, from the 1850s to the turn of the century, it was visited by th ...

. They were looking for a good location to construct a furniture factory. When they found the right place, the workers at the factory began moving in the area surrounding the factory, therefore founding the company-owned hamlet of Chichester. The

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad The Ulster and Delaware Railroad (U&D) was a railroad located in the state of New York. It was often advertised as "The Only All-Rail Route to the Catskill Mountains." At its greatest extent, the U&D extended from Kingston Point on the Hudson R ...

(which would later become a branch of the

Ulster and Delaware Railroad The Ulster and Delaware Railroad (U&D) was a railroad located in the state of New York. It was often advertised as "The Only All-Rail Route to the Catskill Mountains." At its greatest extent, the U&D extended from Kingston Point on the Hudson R ...

) was built through the town in 1881. As was customary in that time, workers were often paid with company scrip which could be redeemed in the factory-owned general store. The factory was later purchased by William O. Schwartzwaelder, who was of German ancestry, and renamed the factory after him. The rest of the hamlet was starting to expand, all of the houses and buildings being built by the factory, as were the other buildings. There was one general store in the town, and sold such merchandise as

saddles A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to Mammal#Anatomy, an animal's back by a girth (tack), girth. The most common type is List of equestrian sports, equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created ...

animal feed Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock, in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types: fodder and forage. Used alone, the word ''feed'' more often refers to fodder. Animal feed is an important input ...

, and hardware. There was also a post office and a schoolhouse in the town, the schoolhouse being a house at present. The furniture factory went out of business decades later in 1939, a few years after the great depression, which devastated the business. The village, at the time comprising 44 houses and buildings, was put up for auction on October 28, 1939. Joseph Day was the auctioneer. The houses and building of hamlet were purchased at the auction, and it has been in the hands of private owners ever since the auction.

Geography

Chichester is within the

Catskill Park The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It consists of of land inside a Blue Line in four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster. As of 2005, or 41 percent of the land within, is owned by ...

, and is situated in a mountainous valley. The northern portion of the hamlet borders Greene County, directly south of the hamlet of Lanesville. There are two major creeks that run through the hamlet. These are the

Stony Clove Creek Stony Clove Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 creek in the Catskill Mountains in New York. It is a tributary of Esopus Creek, which in turn is a t ...

, which starts at

Notch Lake Notch Lake is an artificial lake in Edgewood, New York, in the Town of Hunter in the Catskill Mountains. It is located near the Stony Clove Notch, and is located near the edge of the Devil's Tombstone Campsite, bordering New York State Route 2 ...

in Edgewood, and Warner's Creek, which also starts in Edgewood. The two creeks there, however, are called by the locals Stony Clove and Ox Clove.

References

External links

{{Authority control Hamlets in New York (state) Shandaken, New York Catskills Hamlets in Ulster County, New York

History

Geography

See also

References

External links