Place:Fallsburg, Sullivan, New York, United States

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NameFallsburg
TypeTown
Coordinates41.717°N 74.6°W
Located inSullivan, New York, United States
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Fallsburg is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The town is in the eastern part of the county. The population was 12,870 at the 2010 census. It is not to be confused with the hamlet of Fallsburg which bears a similar name and is within the town of Fallsburg.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

On March 9, 1826, the New York State Legislature passed an act establishing the town of Fallsburg. The town was created from parts of the towns of Thompson and Neversink. Fallsburg takes its name from a waterfall on the Neversink River and was established in 1826. One month later, on April 4, the first town meeting was held in the schoolhouse where the hamlet of Fallsburg is today.

The Neversink River runs from north to south through the town and played an important role in its early development. In the late 1780s, the valley above the falls on the Neversink was known as having fertile and cheap land. This brought an influx of settlers from Ulster County. By 1800, the upper areas along the river were well settled by the people in the already existing towns and by newcomers.

The region was primarily a farming community during the first part of the 1800s. Life during this time was frugal. The long haul over the mountains to Kingston prevented a lot of trade, and it sometimes took 90 days for mail to reach Fallsburg from Kingston. When the Delaware and Hudson Canal opened in the area in 1828, it brought many changes. Now the nearest place to trade was Ellenville. Up until this time, Hasbrouck was the major settlement in the area. The upper Neversink River between Woodbourne and Hasbrouck was the most settled because of the right flatlands that were found along the river. In the 1790s, there were a number of sawmills and gristmills that were built to further establish the area. The hamlet was a major business area for many years with a variety of shops and stores and its own post office in from 1846 to 1923.

The town, within the Catskill Mountains, is in the heart of a once-popular predominantly Jewish summer resort area known as the Borscht Belt.

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