High Falls Historic District

Infobox nrhp
name = High Falls Historic District
nrhp_type = hd


caption = Lock no. 15 on the Delaware and Hudson Canal, 2007
lat_degrees = 41
lat_minutes = 49
lat_seconds = 36
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 74
long_minutes = 07
long_seconds = 35
long_direction = W
location = High Falls, NY
nearest_city = Kingston
area = 21 acres (8 ha)cite web|last=Piwonka|first=Ruth|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, High Falls Historic District|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=9774|date=February 1998|accessdate=2008-02-21]
built = 18th and 19th centuries
architect =
architecture =
designated =
added = 1998
established =
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 98001005
mpsub =
governing_body = Private residences and businessesThe High Falls Historic District corresponds roughly to the downtown section of that hamlet in Marbletown, New York, United States. This is the junction of NY 213, Main Street and Bruceville Road just south of Rondout Creek.

Here the Delaware and Hudson Canal once crossed the creek on a large aqueduct, never rebuilt after it burned in the early 20th century. Several pieces of the canal's infrastructure, including some well-preserved locks and the canal's official National Historic Landmark plaque, are included in its 21 acres (8 ha). While the canal had the greatest effect on the small community, it has not been the only economic force acting on it over the years. It is considered a "distinctive example of mid-19th century semi-urban land use planning."

History

High Falls takes its name from the nearby feature on the Rondout, where the creek cuts through a large rock formation and goes over a large waterfall. It was an attractive source of water power, and millers were drawn to it from colonial times. The first bridge to nearby Stone Ridge, on the main road through the valley between the Shawangunks and Catskills, was built during this time. The stone Jacob DePuy House, from 1797 (expanded in mid-19th century), reflects this era and retains much of its original fabric.In the early 19th century, a cotton and woolen factory in the hamlet made it a center of local manufacturing, serving many of the farms in the surrounding area. This set the stage for the construction and opening of the canal in 1828. The D & H was built to transport anthracite coal from Northeastern Pennsylvania to New York City via Kingston, where it was transferred to ships plying the Hudson River.

High Falls would be important not only for its location at a key water crossing, spanned by a John A. Roebling aqueduct, and frequent layover on the canal, but for the natural cement discovered at nearby Rosendale during the canal's construction, which needed the millpower. As the canal remained in operation for the remainder of the century, it would transform the hamlet from an isolated rural community to a bustling, yet small, industrial town, especially after the canal was expanded in 1850 to handle bigger barges. In addition to the facilities built by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, such as a lock tender's house, small stores and shops were built nearby to take advantage of the canal traffic. They and the hamlet's street and block layout still exist today, a testament to that period.

Development declined along with the canal's fortunes, and the district has changed little since the canal ceased operations in 1899, other than the state's relocation of the portion of Route 213 that goes through it in 1956. Its post-canal future began thirty years earlier. The road extending down from the Shawangunks had made High Falls a point of embarkation via carriage for canal or rail travelers destined for Mohonk Mountain House atop the ridge. This may have helped it establish itself as a vacation or weekend destination of its own, a reputation it still enjoys today. The nearby hills and fields and their mountain vistas are home to many second homes for residents of New York City and its downstate suburbs. The shops and stores are now boutiques and restaurants that cater to them on weekends and in summertime.

References