Woodbourne is 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 ...

(and census-designated place) in the town of

Fallsburg Fallsburg is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The town is in the eastern part of the county. The population was 14,192 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census Report Fallsburg, New York QuickFacts https://www.census. ...

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. Woodbourne is bordered by the town of Neversink, the hamlet of Grahamsville, the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake, the hamlet of Old Falls and the hamlet of Hasbrouck. The major thoroughfares of Woodbourne are New York State Routes 42 and 52. The center of the hamlet is where the two highways briefly

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...

and cross the Neversink River. Woodbourne is in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City. The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catski ...

and in its heyday was home to many summer hotels, bungalow colonies and boarding houses, which are mainly uninhabited throughout most of the calendar year. To this day, the population of Woodbourne and nearby areas increases dramatically each summer with an influx of

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

residents from New York City, New Jersey and other surrounding Jewish population centers. With this, the local economy expands in the warmer months as locally owned small businesses thrive until approximately Labor Day Weekend, marking the typical end of summer.

Early history

According to the Sullivan County Historical Society,Sullivan County Historical Societ

'The Sullivan County Historical Society's web page'' the northern part of the town of

was settled by Europeans in the 1780s, many of whom migrated from

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...

in search of cheap, fertile land. In 1830, a man named Gabriel Ludlum (or Ludlam) relocated his law practice from the nearby hamlet of Hasbrouck, and named the area Woodbourne. Some time after 1831, Mr. Austin Strong, in partnership with Medad T. Morss would establish a tannery, which burnt down in 1866. Woodbourne benefited from being the closest settlement in Sullivan County to Ellenville, which was located along the Delaware & Hudson Canal. The decline of the tanning industry, which resulted from the decline in the hemlock forests in Sullivan county, and the arrival of the

New York, Ontario and Western Railway The New York, Ontario and Western Railway, commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad founded in 1868. The last train ran from Norwich, New York, to Middletown, Orange County, New York, Middletown, New York, in 1957, after whi ...

in the early 1870s led to a decline in Woodbourne's importance, as the railway became the main driver of commerce in the region.

Landmarks and places of interest

* B'nai Israel Synagogue * Center Theatre, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. * Church of the Immaculate Conception * Neversink River, which flows through the town. *

Woodbourne Correctional Facility Woodbourne Correctional Facility is a medium security men's prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in Woodbourne in Sullivan County, New York. It is located on the same tract of land as maximum ...

* Woodbourne Reformed Church Complex, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

References

{{Sullivan County, New York Hamlets in New York (state) Fallsburg, New York Hamlets in Sullivan County, New York