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Monticello
New York, 12701 & 12777
Monticello Raceway
Monticello is a village located in the town of Thompson in Sullivan County, NY. It is the county seat of Sullivan County. The village was named after the residence of Thomas Jefferson, but is pronounced as "mon-tah-sell-oh". The Village of Monticello is in the central part of the town and is is the largest village in the county.
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About Monticello, NY:
On 1801 an act was passed authorizing the building of a new turnpike road from the Hudson River to the Delaware through what was then Ulster and Orange counties. There were two important reasons for this undertaking. One was to facilitate travel between Newburgh and the rich coalfields of Pennsylvania and the other was to provide a suitable passage for large droves of cattle and wood products taken from the virgin forests of Sullivan County. The proposed Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike ultimately brought about the founding of the village of Monticello.
Even though the village grew a great deal from the turnpike, the village was not as fortunate with the railroad. Although one survey for the Erie Railroad went to Monticello, when the final route was determined it did not go near the village. Later when the Midland Railroad (later the O&W) was built through Sullivan County, it too missed Monticello by going through Fallsburg five miles (8 km) away. A railroad line between Monticello and Port Jervis was launched in 1869 with the formal opening taking place in 1871. The name of the little railroad was changed several times before it was taken over by the New York O& W in 1903. The O & W ran the line until it was suspended in 1935.
In 1909 Monticello suffered its worse calamity in history when a fire wiped out most of the business section of the village. It was thought that the fire started from a large burned out smokestack belonging to the Hurray power plant. The fire broke out on a Tuesday evening about 8:30 when the evening mail was arriving. The streets, stores and hotel porches were thronged with summer visitors when the alarm sounded. By the time the firemen responded and the hoses were laid the power house was roaring in flames. The fire quickly spread to the huge Palatine Casino, which was consumed in fire in a matter of seconds. A strong wind spread the fire from building to building and in less than an hour, both sides of the street were a fury of fire. When it was over forty buildings had been consumed along with a million dollars worth of property. Fortunately, no lives were lost as hundreds of horrified people watched, powerless to save one hundred years of growth and industry. Monticello was quick to rebuild; replacing many of the wooden buildings with more fire resistant ones made of brick. Unfortunately replacing the beautiful trees that once lined Broadway would take a great deal longer.
Some pioneer hotels in the county were located in Monticello; the Mansion House and the Rockwell were important places during the Sullivan County resort era. There was a lot of summer activity and entertainment in Monticello. During the early 1900s, there was a Driving Park Association that held races in the village. In 1910 the "Lyceum", the largest theater in the county opened in Monticello. It was successful until 1922 when the moviegoers visited the Rialto Theater, the new showplace in town. The Monticello Amusement Park was popular until it burned in 1932. Monticello played host to the Sullivan County Fair for over fifty years until it closed in 1931. Although few of Monticello hotels successfully made the transition into the later resort age, the village continued to draw the tourists who stayed at nearby hotels and bungalow colonies.
A compact but generally run-down African-American district once stood on Wheeler and Young Streets in the village's west end. This neighborhood was demolished in the 1970s for construction of the Government Center.
If you have questions or need more information regarding any town, please feel free to E-mail us.
* Some content provided by Wikipedia
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