Sullivan County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,624. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Monticello. The county's name honors

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

John Sullivan, who was labeled at the time as a hero in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

in part due to his successful campaign against the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

(see Sullivan Expedition). The county was the site of hundreds of Borscht Belt hotels and resorts, which had their heyday from the 1920s through the 1970s. In 2010, the state's center of population was at the southern edge of Sullivan County.

History

When the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the ...

established its first twelve counties in 1683, the present Sullivan County was part of Ulster County. In 1809, Sullivan County was split from Ulster County. In the late 19th century, the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

and the advent of factories driven by water power along the streams and rivers led to an increase in population attracted to the jobs. Hamlets enlarged into towns. As industry restructured, many of those jobs left before the middle of the twentieth century. The economy changed again after that, shifting to a more tourist-based variety and benefiting from resorts established by European Jewish immigrants and their descendants in what became called the Borscht Belt of the 20th century. Resort hotels featured a wide variety of entertainers, some nationally known. At the beginning of this period, visitors traveled to the area by train, and later by automobile. The area's natural resources also provided a setting for numerous summer camps frequented by the children of immigrants and their descendants.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.9%) is water. Sullivan County is in the southern part of New York State, southeast of Binghamton and southwest of Albany. It is separated from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

along its southwest boundary by the Delaware River. The county, which starts about 70 miles northwest of New York City, is in the Catskill Mountains. Its northeastern corner is within the

Catskill Park The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in New York in the United States. 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 b ...

. The highest point in the county is a 3,118-foot (950 m) peak unofficially known as Beech Mountain, near Hodge Pond, a subsidiary summit to Mongaup Mountain across the Ulster County line. The lowest point is along the Delaware River.

Adjacent counties

* Delaware County - north * Ulster County - northeast * Orange County - southeast * Pike County,

- southwest * Wayne County,

- west

Demographics

As of the 2000 Census, there were 73,966 people, 27,661 households, and 18,311 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 76 people per square mile (29/km²). There were 44,730 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.31%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 8.51%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.27% Native American, 1.12% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 2.89% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. 9.25% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. 16.6% were of German, 13.9% Irish, 12.5% Italian, 7.3% American and 6.2% English ancestry according to

Census 2000 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...

. 86.6% spoke English, 7.4% Spanish and 1.0% German as their first language. A small population of

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, late twentieth-century immigrants, live in the villages. There are a few persons in Sullivan and nearby counties who are of mixed Dutch and Mohawk or

Lenni-Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

ancestry in this region of upstate New York, the legacy of indigenous peoples in the region and the New Netherlands colonial era in the 17th century. There were 27,661 households, out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.10% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 11.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.80% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.05. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.90% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,998, and the median income for a family was $43,458. Males had a median income of $36,110 versus $25,754 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $18,892. About 11.60% of families and 17.40% 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 21.60% of those under age 18 and 10.70% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

National protected area

Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River The Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River is a unit of the National Park Service designated under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. It stretches along of the Delaware River between Hancock, New York, and Sparrowbush, New York ...

(part)

Government and politics

Sullivan County is a swing county, backing the national winner in all but three presidential elections from 1952 to the present. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

by a margin of 49.47% to 48.55%, or a difference of 285 votes. In 2008, however, it was won by Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

over Republican John McCain by a margin of 54% to 45%. Then, in 2016, the county voted for Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

over Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

by a margin of 53% to 42%. In 2020, the county didn't back the winner nationally for the first time since 2000. Incumbent Republican President Donald Trump won the county with 54% of the votes that year compared to the national winner Democrat Joe Biden's 45%. There are thirty-six town and village courts in Sullivan County. Legislative authority is vested in the county legislature which consists of nine members, each elected from single member districts. Currently, there are six Republicans and three Democrats.

Education

Public school districts

Eldred Central Schools

Fallsburg Central Schools
* Liberty Central School District *

Livingston Manor Central School District Livingston Manor Central School is a school district in Livingston Manor, New York Livingston Manor is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet (and a census-designated place) in Sullivan County, New York, Sullivan County, New York (state), New York, United ...

Monticello Central Schools

Roscoe Central Schools
* Sullivan West Central School *

Tri-Valley Central School Tri-Valley Secondary School is located on 34 Moore Hill Road, near the Rondout Reservoir, east of Grahamsville, New York, Grahamsville, New York (state), New York. It educates students from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade and is within the Tri-Va ...

Higher education

Sullivan County Community College SUNY Sullivan is a public community college in Loch Sheldrake, New York. It was founded in 1962 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and funded in part by Sullivan County, New York. It is accredited by the Middle States C ...

is located in the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake in the town of Fallsburg.

Transportation

Sullivan County has services provided by Short Line to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. It also has some local service provided by the county itself, as well as community organizations.

Sullivan County International Airport Sullivan County International Airport is in Bethel, Sullivan County, New York. It is seven miles northwest of Monticello, a village in the Town of Thompson. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as ...

is located in Bethel and is used frequently for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation service ...

purposes.

Major Roadways

* * * * * * * * * *

Tourism

Sullivan County has been a popular vacation spot since the 19th Century, with mountain climbing, boating, and other outdoor activities, as well as the Monticello Raceway being among the attractions. The majority of the tourism occurs in the summer months. It was the site of the hundreds of resort complexes of the Borscht Belt (with their golf courses, social events, and entertainers), between the 1920s and 1970s. Borscht Belt hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps, and ''kuchaleyns'' (a Yiddish name for self-catered boarding houses). The bungalows usually included "a kitchen/living room/dinette, one bedroom, and a screened porch" with entertainment being simple: bingo or a movie. The ''kuchaleyns'' were also visited often by middle and working-class Jewish New Yorkers. Because of the many Jewish guests, this area was nicknamed the Jewish

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

and "Solomon County" (a modification of Sullivan County) by many people who visited there. Many famous comedians tested their material and performed regularly at Borscht Belt hotels, including Milton Berle,

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

, and Henny Youngman. Eddie Fisher performed often at Grossinger's, where in 1955 he married

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

. By the late 1950s, many began closing with most gone by the 1970s, but some major resorts continued to operate, a few into the 1990s. Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel closed in 1986 and the Concord Resort Hotel struggled to stay open until 1998. By that time, the business owed millions in back taxes to Sullivan County, but the property was sold "for $10.5 million" and a new resort was eventually built. Sullivan County was the site of the 1969

Woodstock Festival Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquari ...

located at the present-day Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. During the period August 15–18, 1969, approximately 500,000 people gathered in Sullivan County's Town of Bethel at Max Yasgur's farm to attend the Woodstock Festival. The entertainers included The Who; the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

;

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ach ...

; The Band; Canned Heat;

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

; Arlo Guthrie; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Janis Joplin; Santana; Sly and the Family Stone; Blood, Sweat and Tears; Jimi Hendrix; and Richie Havens. The state and the town of Bethel council subsequently passed laws prohibiting future mass event types of festivals. In 2019, a 50th celebration of Woodstock was organized: "Sullivan County ... finally embracing the ultimate symbol of peace and love, the 1969 Woodstock festival". The ''Woodstock 50'' festival, scheduled for August, was canceled months earlier so it did not take place. The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts did organize of weekend of "low-key" concerts.Woodstock Gets a Low-Key 50th Party With Ringo, Santana and That Album Cover Couple
/ref> Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, which also includes a museum of the sixties and Woodstock, holds many concerts and other events throughout the year. Other notable cultural destinations include the CAS Arts Center, a multi-arts exhibit space and education center run by the Catskill Art Society in Livingston Manor, New York, the NaCl Theatre, a professional regional theater company focusing on experimental work in Highland Lake, and the

Delaware Valley Arts Alliance The Delaware Valley Arts Alliance is a nonprofit arts organization and the Arts Council for Sullivan County, New York Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,624. The county ...

(DVAA) which serves as the Arts Council for Sullivan County and is located in Narrowsburg. DVAA offers two art galleries, performing arts and cultural programming, grant opportunities for artists and nonprofits, the Big Eddy Film Festival, and Riverfest.

Communities

Towns

* Bethel * Callicoon * Cochecton *

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

* Fallsburg * Forestburgh * Fremont *

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

Lumberland Lumberland is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 2,468 at the 2010 census. The Town of Lumberland is a rural community in the southwestern part of the county. History The town was formed in 1798 from the To ...

* Mamakating * Neversink *

Rockland Rockland may refer to: People *Per Bergsland, nicknamed Peter Rockland, one of three successful escapees from Stalag Luft III (the "Great Escape") Places ;In Canada *Rockland, Greater Victoria *Rockland, Nova Scotia *Rockland, Ontario ;In the Uni ...

* Thompson * Tusten

Villages

* Bloomingburg * Jeffersonville *

* Monticello (county seat) * Woodridge * Wurtsboro

Census-designated places

* Barryville * Bridgeville * Callicoon * Eldred * Fallsburg * Grahamsville * Hankins * Hortonville *

Hurleyville Hurleyville is a community in south Taranaki, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located 18 kilometres north of Patea and 30 km southeast of Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zeal ...

* Kauneonga Lake * Kiamesha Lake * Lake Huntington * Livingston Manor * Loch Sheldrake * Mongaup Valley * Mountain Dale *

Narrowsburg Narrowsburg is a hamlet (and a census-designated place) in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 431 at the 2010 census. Narrowsburg is in the western part of the Town of Tusten at the junction of Routes 52 and 97. Hist ...

* Rock Hill * Roscoe * Smallwood * South Fallsburg *

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

* White Lake * Woodbourne *

Wurtsboro Hills Wurtsboro Hills is a Range (geographic), mountain range in Sullivan County, New York. It is located north-northeast of Wurtsboro, New York, Wurtsboro. Shawangunk Mountains are located southeast of Wurtsboro Hills. References

Mountai ...

Hamlets

* Debruce * Ferndale *

Glen Spey Glen Spey is a hamlet in the town of Lumberland, Sullivan County, 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 nort ...

* Handsome Eddy * Harris *

Haven Haven or The Haven may refer to: * Harbor or haven, a sheltered body of water where ships can be docked Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Haven (Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter), from the novel series * Haven (comics), from the ''X-Men ...

* Hazel * Lew Beach * Long Eddy * Minisink Ford * North Branch * Spring Glen * Summitville * White Sulphur Springs

Notable people

Steve Lungen Steve Lungen (born circa 1946) is a former Republican District Attorney of Sullivan County, New York. In February 2009, Lungen announced that he was retiring after 28 years as District Attorney. In 1989, Lungen ran for re-election against now- ...

(born c. 1946), former District Attorney

References

;Notes