Liberty, New York
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Liberty is a
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
in Sullivan County,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census Report QuickFacts, Liberty, Sullivan County, New York https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/libertytownsullivancountynewyork The village is bisected by
NY 52 New York State Route 52 (NY 52) is a state highway in the southeastern part of the state. It generally runs from west to east through five counties, beginning at the Pennsylvania state line in the Delaware River near Narrowsburg, c ...
and
NY 55 New York State Route 55 (NY 55) is a east-west state highway in southern New York, running from the Pennsylvania state line at the Delaware River in Barryville to the Connecticut state line at Wingdale. It is the only other state ...
, and is crossed by NY 17.


History

The town of Liberty area is credited with providing 303 men who fought in the Revolution. Liberty was carved originally from the then large township of Lumberland and was itself at this time so large that it included the present Towns of Callicoon and Fremont. The Town today covers 85 square miles. When the first settlers came to this area, known as the Blue Mountain country, they settled to the Northwest of the present village at the existing Revonah Lake formerly known as Broadhead Pond. The early settlers came here from Connecticut and some of the oldest remains left in the Town are the laid up stones in the outlet of Revonah Lake which were probably placed there in 1797 for the purpose of building the first sawmill in the area. As the land was cleared of the dense dark hemlock forest that the early settlers found, the area went through various stages of development. After the farms were cleared one of the earlier forms of industry to be established was the tanneries which ran through the Civil War era. Following this, the dairy farming came into its own, to be followed by the taking in of “summer boarders” which gradually led to the founding of the large hotels: the Wawonda, Liberty House and many others. It was along about 1900 that the large Loomis Sanatorium was established for the care of TB or tubercular patients and Liberty in general went through another stage of its development which lasted until other cures beside the fresh air and rest were found. It was also early in the century that the Workmen's Circle, a leading Jewish fraternal order, built a sanatorium east of Liberty: the property now occupied by the County Home and Infirmary and also the site of the Social Service Buildings. Then, the town in general fell back to its dependency upon the tourists and its so-called summer season. Being blessed with an abundance of rural beauty and nearness to the metropolitan area provides many advantages in this respect. As the years went by, and different settlements began to develop, they eventually became the Village and Hamlets that we know today. Some of the old settlements either changed their names or were lost in the ways of progress. Doubtenville, Glen Cove, Egypt and Red Brick are just a few of the lost communities. Still remaining within the confines of the Town of Liberty today are the Village of Liberty and the smaller hamlets of Ferndale, Parksville, Swan Lake and White Sulphur Springs. The Village of Liberty, incorporated on September 17, 1870, is by far the largest of the Town's communities, being located at the crossroads of the Quickway (Route 17) and State Highway Route 52. Liberty can boast of its tanneries, of the old Liberty Normal Institute, established in 1847, its famous Coaching Day Parades, and its hotels of the 1900 era. The Liberty House was the greatest and was the site of many Lincoln Dinners and reunions of the Grand Army of the Republic. Of the smaller hamlets, Parksville is the only one to maintain its original name. Even before the formation of the Town of Liberty there were people in this area. The Martins and the Halls were early settlers, arriving in 1804. At a later date the Parks family came to the area and proved to be extremely active and productive and through their efforts came the name Parksville; otherwise, it more than likely would have been known as “Martinsville.” White Sulphur Springs was originally called Robertsonville, being named for Bradley Robertson, who left Connecticut and settled in the area in 1809, and later fought in the war of 1812. The Hamlet has always been a rural area. At one time it was surrounded by many small dairy farms and had a cheese factory operating within its bounds. In the 1890s and early 1900s it was doing a thriving hotel and Boarding House business. It was during this period of time that a large hotel, called the White Sulphur Springs House was built. The hotel took its name from the Sulphur Spring whose waters were supposed to have medicinal benefits which were obtainable either by drinking or bathing in it. In December, 1890 Robertsonville officially changed its name to White Sulphur Springs, no doubt to further help the promotion of the tourist trade. In later years many additional hotels were constructed in the Hamlet and the business flourished in the summer for many years. Ferndale, originally known as Liberty Falls, was settled by Roswell Russell in 1807. During the Civil War era, it had thriving tanneries within its confines. The tall brick chimney of one of the tanneries stood until sometime in the 1950s, when it was taken down for its bricks. The name was changed from Liberty Falls to Ferndale by the NYO&W Railway because of a mix up of the mails. The name Ferndale covers a much larger area than the hamlet itself. Ferndale is credited with having the Grossinger Resort Hotel within its boundaries. This large layout all started by the Grossinger family taking in a few summer boarders to help meet expenses in 1914. Swan Lake originally called Stevensville, was named after the Stevens brothers, who built a large sole leather tannery there. The tannery was in existence until about 1873. Since the 1880s, the Swan Lake area has been noted for its hotel and tourist industry. Many of the local farm girls found jobs there in the early 1900s. The lake has always had an abundance of fish and brings sportsmen into the area. Alden S. Swan arrived there from New York about 1895 and by the time of his death in 1917 owned much of the land and all of the lake. The name was changed to Swan Lake in January 1927. The Swan estate was purchased by Siegel and Kretchmer, and the Siegels went on to build the Commodore and Stevensville Hotels: the latter developing into a large, sprawling hotel run by the Dinnerstein family. Liberty was a mainstay, with Grossinger's Hotel and several other Borscht Belt attractions, but, once their doors closed, so ended the lifestyle which made Liberty desirable to tourism.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of 80.7 square miles (209.0 km2), of which 79.6 square miles (206.2 km2) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2) (1.36%) is water.


Communities within Liberty

*Cooley – a location near the northern town line. * Ferndale (formerly Liberty Falls) – a
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 ...
south of Liberty village on Route 17. The Ferndale School, Manion's General Store, and Shelburne Playhouse are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. *Grossinger – a hamlet south of Liberty village on Route 17. Formerly this was the site of
Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel was a resort in the Catskill Mountains in the Liberty (town), New York, Town of Liberty, near the village of Liberty (village), New York, Liberty, New York. It was a kosher establishment that catered primarily to ...
*
Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
– village on Route 17. *Loomis – a hamlet west of Liberty village. * Parksville – a hamlet north of Liberty village on Route 17. The Tefereth Israel Anshei Parksville Synagogue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. *Revonah Lake (formerly Brodhead Pond) – a
lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
northwest of Liberty village, that was probably the first settlement site in the town. *
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
(formerly Stevensville) – a hamlet near the southern town line, located at the eastern end of a lake called "Swan Lake." * White Sulphur Springs (formerly Robertsonville) – a hamlet in the southwestern part of the town on Route 52. The Jewish Community Center of White Sulphur Springs was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 9,632 people, 3,711 households, and 2,263 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 5,350 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 83.70%
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 9.19%
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.37% Native American, 1.43% Asian, .01%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 3.76% from other races, and 1.54% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 10.9% of the population. There were 3,711 households, out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.7% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.08. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $32,022, and the median income for a family was $37,689. Males had a median income of $31,088 versus $24,655 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the town was $17,565. About 12.1% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 19.0% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.


Education

The Liberty Central School District has three schools in Liberty. The Catholic schools in closest proximity to Liberty are Our Lady of Mount Carmel Elementary School in Wallkill and St. John Elementary School in Goshen. St. Peter's Regional School, the final remaining Catholic school in Sullivan County, closed in 2019. At the time it had 42 students. The school became an early learning center in 2016 after an earlier plan to close the school was canceled.


Notable people

*
Allan Bérubé Allan Bérubé (pronounced BEH-ruh-bay; December 3, 1946 – December 11, 2007) was a gay American historian, activist, independent scholar, self-described "community-based" researcher and college drop-out, and award-winning author, best know ...
, historian, activist, and award-winning author *
Alan Gerry Alan Gerry (born December 24, 1929)
Tuesday June 06, 2000
is an Am ...
, founder of
Cablevision Industries Spectrum is the trade name of Charter Communications. The name is widely used by both market consumers and commercial businesses. Services that Spectrum offers include cable television, internet access, internet security, managed services, mob ...
*
Robert Y. Grant Robert Y. Grant (November 22, 1819 in Liberty, New York – February 19, 1862) was an American politician from New York. Life He was the son of Joseph Grant and Susan (Young) Grant. He became a farmer, then dealt in cattle, and about 1851 engaged ...
, Justice of the Peace from 1849 to 1855; supervisor of the town of Liberty in 1854 and 1859; postmaster of Liberty from 1855; and a member of the
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...
(9th D.) in
1860 Events January * January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrier announces the discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 &ndas ...
and
1861 This year saw significant progress in the Unification of Italy, the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the emancipation reform abolishing serfdom in the Russian Empire. Events January * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico Ci ...
. * Taylor Jardine, lead singer for Sainte and We Are The In Crowd *
Zoe Leonard Zoe Leonard (born 1961) is an American artist who works primarily with photography and sculpture. She has exhibited widely since the late 1980s and her work has been included in a number of seminal exhibitions including documenta, Documenta IX and ...
, artist * Maurice Martin,
Basketball Player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...
* Kaseem Sinceno, former NFL player and graduate of Liberty High School


Film

Liberty is the setting of
David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...
's film ''Hits''. The film was also used as the setting for the 2018 drama ''Nancy''.


References


External links


Official site




at the
New York State Library The New York State Library is a research library in Albany, New York, United States. It was established in 1818 to serve the state government of New York and is part of the New York State Education Department. The library is one of the large ...
, accessed May 18, 2016. {{Authority control Towns in Sullivan County, New York Towns in New York (state)