Editing Spring Valley, New York (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2008}}
[[File:North Main Street School, Spring Valley, NY.jpg|thumb|Former North Main Street School, now a satellite campus of Rockland Community College]]
Before the opening of the railroad, there were no homes in Spring Valley.

In 1842, the [[Erie Railroad|New York & Erie Railroad]] called this part of the territory "Pascack", after a stream by the same name. The residents of the area decided to call the place Spring Valley&nbsp;– one certain large spring in the Valley Pond being responsible for the name. Before naming the territory Spring Valley, it was called [[Scotland]], named after their homeland, by Scotsmen who had settled in the area.

In 1885, E. P. Lespenasse, of Spring Valley, walked from [[Haverstraw, New York]] to [[Washington, D.C.]] to settle an election bet. He carried a live pig and a rooster on his month-long journey. Lespenasse sold over 600 copies of picture post cards of himself and the animals he carried before the start of his walk and along the way as souvenirs and to support his journey.
<ref>"[http://cbsheridan.tumblr.com/post/114080617590/in-honor-of-national-poultry-day-march-19-enjoy In Honor of National Poultry Day March 19 Enjoy]" March 19, 2015.</ref>

In 1914, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], visited Spring Valley to discuss the political issues of the day, speaking at Lyceum.

On July 21, 1919, the Valley Theatre was first opened.

In 1923, the [[Edwin Gould I|Edwin Gould]] Foundation was incorporated. The Lakeside School for Girls and the Kingsland Industrial Schools for Boys opened on South Main street.

In 1929, Governor [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] was the principal speaker at the [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]] celebration in Spring Valley.

In 1948, President [[Harry S. Truman]] stopped at Spring Valley while touring the country in the last [[whistle stop train tour|whistle-stop campaign]] by train.

Around [[World War II]], Spring Valley had summer resorts that had many [[New York City]] [[Jews|Jewish people]] as customers. After World War II large resorts in the [[Catskill Mountains]] and other areas began to attract Jews instead, leaving the Spring Valley hotels empty. William Casey, Rockland County historian, said that many [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] groups began to settle during this period.<ref>Zeliger, Robert. "[http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070831/CUSTOM04/709300304/1277 Culture clash]." ''[[Rockland Magazine]]''. August 31, 2007.</ref>

The final [[steam locomotive]]s on the Erie Railroad were commuter engines that ran between [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]] and Spring Valley. Steam last operated on the Erie on March 17, 1954, when the fires were dropped on K-1 class [[4-6-2|Pacific]] locomotive No. 2530.<ref>Ball Jr., Don, "America's Colorful Railroads", Bonanza Books, a division of Crown Publisher's, Inc., Bonanza 1979 Edition, (Don Ball copyright 1978), Library of Congress card number 79-54682, {{ISBN|0-517-30488-0}}, page 53.</ref>

In 2007, Spring Valley Mayor George Darden was elected vice president of the World Conference of Mayors during the organization's 23rd annual mayors' conference held in [[Port-au-Prince]], [[Haiti]]. The organization includes mayors from the National Conference of Black Mayors and the Union of African Villages, whose goal is to foster constructive relationships among mayors around the world.

Revitalization measures are currently underway in the downtown area of the village, including a mass demolition of abandoned buildings on Main Street and the construction of new mixed-use commercial/residential buildings in its place.<ref>http://www.communityp.com/press_releases_detail.php?id=53 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

For over 50 years, Spring Valley was the site of a military parts distributor, Sarafan Auto Supply, which supplied military parts all around the world. This third-generation business became part of the community; as business expanded, it grew to take up a large portion of the industrial section of the downtown area. Recently the business moved out of Spring Valley, but the lot which it occupied still has many of the original buildings built by Jacob Sarafan in the early 1900s.

===Corruption in Spring Valley===
*On August 4, 2014, Mayor Demeza Delhomme was locked up in the county jail after a state Supreme Court justice found him in contempt of a court order to open the village's civic center to host its summer camp.
*In 2015 the former mayor of Spring Valley, Noramie Jasmin, was convicted in federal court in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] of taking kickbacks to push through a community center and catering hall. She was also convicted of extortion and wire fraud and for selling her vote for $5,000 and a 50-percent ownership stake in the building. She served out a four-year prison term at [[Federal Prison Camp Alderson]] in [[West Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-spring-valley-mayor-noramie-jasmin-sentenced-four-years-prison-extortion-and | title=Former Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Extortion and Fraud Charges | date=August 7, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-york-state-sen-malcolm-smith-corruption-case-spreads-spring-valley-article-1.1305905|title=New York State Sen. Malcolm Smith corruption case: trail leads to probe of real estate dealings by Spring Valley, New York, Mayor Noramie Jasmin, Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret|first=Corky|last=Siemaszko|website=New York Daily News}}</ref>
*In June 2015 former Spring Valley deputy mayor Joseph Desmaret was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his part in a corruption scheme involving a proposal to build a village-owned catering hall on Route 45 in Spring Valley.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2015/06/18/joseph-desmaret-sentence-spring-valley/28934221/|title=Spring Valley: Desmaret gets 3 years for corruption|first=Jane|last=Lerner|website=The Journal News}}</ref>
*In November 2017 Spring Valley trustee Vilair Fonvil was found guilty of corruption charges that accused him of stealing $11,000 from a summer camp program, which ended his career as a village official.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2017/11/17/spring-valley-fonvil-corruption-trial/871789001/|title=Spring Valley corruption trial: Trustee Vilair Fonvil found guilty|first=Kim Redmond and Steve|last=Lieberman|website=The Journal News}}</ref>