Editing Prattsville (town), New York (section)

== History ==
[[File:Prattsville New York 1844 drawing cropped.jpg|thumb|left|An 1844 [[lithograph]] of the town]]
[[File:Zadock Pratt clean.jpg|thumb|left|[[Zadock Pratt]] is credited with raising the town to prominence in the 1800s, and the town was subsequently named after him.]]
The area of the town was first settled around 1763, and the region was then called "Schoharie Kill". An attempt during the [[American Revolution]] by the British and their [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] allies to drive the settlers out was thwarted when they were defeated by the settlers.

Prattsville was established in 1824 from the town of [[Windham, New York|Windham]]. Some of the town was lost to form the town of [[Ashland, Greene County, New York|Ashland]] in 1848.

Prattsville was later named after [[Zadock Pratt]], a [[United States House of Representatives|congressman]] and prominent citizen. Pratt built a [[tannery]] larger than any other in the world at the time, helping it become a major town in [[upstate New York]]. His life is depicted through a series of stone carvings called [[Pratt Rock]] which he commissioned during his lifetime.

The 1830 population of the town was 830. When Pratt built his tannery, it created a vast number of jobs, and the population grew to 1,989 by 1850. However, by 1845 all of the [[hemlock bark]] had been non-sustainably extracted from the forests for {{convert|10|mi|0}} around, and Pratt was forced to close the tannery. No Hemlock re-plantings had been undertaken by Pratt. The jobs that were lost could not be replaced, and the town's population dwindled to 1,314 by 1875.<ref>{{cite book| last=Stradling| first=David| title=Making Mountains: New York City and the Catskills| publisher=[[University of Washington Press]]| year=2008| pages=34, 35| isbn=978-0-295-98747-7| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7sKd6PS-fEC}}</ref> The [[Old Episcopal Manse]] was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2000, and the [[John and Martinus Laraway Inn]] was added in 2012.<ref name="nps">{{cite web| url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20120727.htm| title=National Register of Historic Places| date=July 27, 2012| work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 7/16/12 through 7/20/12| publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>

On August 28, 2011, [[Hurricane Irene]] caused record flooding in the town by [[Schoharie Creek]], causing major damage and destroying large areas of the town. Every structure on the strip that comprises Main Street was partly or fully destroyed, including all 22 of the town's businesses. Eleven houses collapsed in the flood, fifteen were condemned and torn down, and more than 100 homes were so damaged that the residents couldn't return to them, but there were no fatalities.<ref name=":0">{{cite news| last=Dean| first=Josh| title=Please God Stop the Rain| url=https://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/prattsville-hurricane-irene-2012-8/| newspaper=New York Magazine| date=August 19, 2012}}</ref> It received widespread national news coverage because the town had nearly been washed away.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.timesunion.com/default/photo/Hylan-Boulevard-in-Prattsville-just-down-from-1567493.php |title=Photo of Hylan Boulevard in Prattsville |publisher=Times Union |date=September 1, 2011 |access-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.timesunion.com/default/photo/Across-Main-Street-from-the-Morses-in-1567495.php |title=Photo of across Main Street from the Morses |publisher=Times Union |date=September 1, 2011 |access-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Vielkind |first=Jimmy |url=http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/We-thought-we-were-going-to-die-2150370.php |title=We thought we were going to die |publisher=Times Union |date=September 1, 2011 |access-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Waldman |first=Scott |url=http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Survival-is-town-s-greatest-test-2163960.php |title=Survival is town's greatest test |publisher=Times Union |date=September 10, 2011 |access-date=September 14, 2012}}</ref> Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo labeled Prattsville as the place in New York State hardest hit by the storm.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/nyregion/a-year-after-tropical-storm-irene-hope-and-uncertainty-in-prattsville-ny.html?pagewanted=all|title = In Small Town Hit by a Storm, Hope, Despair and a Mudfest|newspaper = The New York Times|date = August 27, 2012|last1 = Rosenberg|first1 = Noah}}</ref>