Editing Mamakating, New York (section)

== History ==
Johanis Hardenburgh, a resident of [[Kingston, New York|Kingston, Ulster County]], had purchased a large tract of land known as the [[Hardenburgh Patent]] in 1706. This land and another patent known as the [[Minisink Patent]] were what is now most of [[Orange County, NY|Orange]] and Sullivan Counties.

The town of Mamakating was organized on December 17, 1743, as the Precinct of Mamakating in [[Ulster County, NY|Ulster County]],<ref>Quinlin, James Eldridge (1873) ''History of Sullivan County'' G.M. Beebe and W.T. Morgans, Liberty, NY</ref> and was coextensive with what became Sullivan County. Some{{who|date=December 2019}} say it was called Mamacotten. Over decades, the precinct was partitioned into towns. The Town of Mamakating is considered the first town in Sullivan County; its first county seat was raised in the village of [[Bloomingburg, New York|Bloomingburg]] in 1809.

During the early and middle 18th century the construction of forts all along the [[Old Mine Road]] (today [[U.S. Route 209 in New York|US 209]]) was undertaken to protect the European settlers' continued expansion and capture of Native land. There were three forts built in Mamakating. Fort Westbrookville was built in 1750 on what is now the Sullivan and Orange county border and until several years ago it was a restaurant. In 1757 a fort was built north of the village of Wurtsboro and it was called Fort Devans. A building was later added to make it larger and it is now owned by the operators of [[Wurtsboro Airport]]. Another fort was built on the east side of the Bloomingburgh Mountain. It was called Fort Roosa and was built in 1731. It is still standing and is considered the oldest building in Sullivan County. Many people traveling the old mine road from Kingston found land that was good for planting crops, plenty of game to hunt, streams filled with fish, and virgin trees to build homes. They decided that it was a good place to settle down and raise a family.

Following the end of the [[American Revolution]], Mamakating was reduced in size by formation of [[Deerpark, New York|Deerpark, Orange County]], and Lumberland in 1798. Mamakating was reduced to its present borders by formation of Thompson in 1803 and contributing a part to Forestburgh in 1837.

In 1788 the first school in Sullivan County was built in Bloomingburg. In 1825 two brothers by the name of Wurts decided to build the [[Delaware and Hudson Canal]]. It carried coal from Pennsylvania to the people in New York City. The first canal boats loaded with coal arrived at the Hudson River in November 1828. On their return trip they brought back many of the things that were needed by the people of Sullivan County. By doing this, the canal made money each way on their trip. The D and H Canal helped bring prosperity to Mamakating and all of Sullivan County. In 1899 the railroad came and marked the beginning of the end for the D and H canal. In recent years there has been an effort by interested citizens of Sullivan County to save what is left of the D and H canal. There are many places where you can see what the D and H looked like. One is on the line between Summitville and Phillipsport where a lone stretch of the canal and the towpath, along with a dry-dock have been cleaned up. The county has posted signs explaining the various parts of the canal.

There are many historic places in Mamakating, one of the most important of which is the grave of Manual Gonsalus, the first European immigrant. His tombstone is dated April 18, 1752. Other historic places are the Phillipsport United Methodist Church built in 1823 and the Bloomingburg Reformed Church built in 1820 and now a county historic landmark. There is also an old cemetery located north of Wurtsboro called the Stanton Cemetery where many of the oldest settlers are buried. This is a popular place for genealogy hunters looking to locate links to their past. Up on the east mountain above the Wurtsboro airport there can still be seen the remains of the old lead mine. Some of the lead mined there was used to make bullets for the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War|US Civil War]].

In the early 19th century there were several hundred tanneries in Sullivan county with several in Mamakating. The leather from these tanneries was of superior quality and during the Civil War was used to make many of the boots, saddles and other leather goods used by the Union Army. In fact Mamakating tanneries, in the year 1850, produced 29,000 hides of leather from five water and horse powered tanneries.

The town of Mamakating town board asked the town co-historian John Masten to form a historical society in the town of Mamakating. They took ownership of the old school building in Summitville and completely renovated it. Masten eagerly accepted the offer and today the building has an archive room, a great meeting room with many pictures and histories of all the areas of Mamakating, and many artifacts of our area. The Historical Society has about 165 members.

The unique designation of "Mamacoots" has been invented locally referring to residents of Mamakating. It is a humorous combination of the original "Mamacotten" and the suffix "kuts."