Editing Harriman, New York (section)

==History==
The village is named after [[E. H. Harriman]], former president of the Union Pacific railroad, whose estate — [[Arden (estate)|Arden]] — is adjacent to the village. Previously, the village was known as Turner, from the early restaurant of Peter Turner.

=== Charles Minot's achievement ===
In 1851, [[Charles Minot (railroad executive)|Charles Minot]] was waiting in a train parked at Turner Station, until seeing the new telegraph wires next to the tracks. He ran into the station and wired to [[Monroe, New York|Monroe]], to see if the eastbound train had passed them already, which they responded no. Minot then ordered the train engineer to proceed to [[Goshen, New York|Goshen]], but he refused. Instead of giving up, Minot got into the cab and drove the train himself to Goshen, then all the way to [[Port Jervis, New York|Port Jervis]], hours ahead of schedule.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Monument to Charles Minot |url=https://www.telegraph-history.org/charles-minot/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.telegraph-history.org}}</ref> Minot's way of communication was a first for the railroad industry at the time, which prompted a monument to be erected in 1912 along with a large ceremony, with many notable people attending such as the Erie president [[Frederick Douglas Underwood|Frederick Underwood]], Mrs. Harriman and more. In the 1980s, the bronze tablet on the monument was briefly removed by [[Conrail]] for "preservation purposes" but placed back after community backlash. The tablet was then stolen again by an unknown party, and has yet to be returned.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Monument to Charles Minot |url=https://www.telegraph-history.org/charles-minot/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.telegraph-history.org}}</ref> It is unknown whether Conrail removed it again or if it was stolen.

=== Railroad service in Harriman ===
{{Main|Harriman station (Erie Railroad)|l1=Harriman Station (Erie Railroad)}}

In 1838, Peter Turner had constructed a large train depot named the Orange Hotel. It was 3 stories tall, with a large dining hall and lavish rooms.<ref>{{Cite news |title=TimesMachine: Sunday June 12, 1910 - NYTimes.com |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/06/12/issue.html |access-date=2024-10-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It sat along the train tracks for the New York & Erie Railroad and was a fairly popular place for people to stop. But on December 26, 1873, the hotel had caught fire in the attic. Due to a lack of fire suppression equipment in the area, it was unable to be extinguished and the building completely collapsed within half an hour.<ref>{{Cite news |title=TimesMachine: Saturday December 27, 1873 - NYTimes.com |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1873/12/27/issue.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The station was replaced with a small depot until in 1909 when [[Mary Williamson Harriman|Mary Harriman]] (widow of E. H. Harriman) donated land farther south to build a new station, since the shack was on the verge of collapse. In 1910 with the death of E. H. Harriman, the Turner Village improvement Association proposed renaming Turner to Harriman. The association voted 58 to 13 to change the name.<ref>{{Cite news |title=TimesMachine: Sunday May 29, 1910 - NYTimes.com |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/05/29/issue.html |access-date=2024-10-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The village was divided on this matter, with one church putting up a banner reading "LONG LIVE TURNER," with the village responding by tearing it down.<ref>{{Cite news |title=TimesMachine: Sunday June 12, 1910 - NYTimes.com |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/06/12/issue.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> After this controversy had subsided, work began on the new station depot. with $6,000 donated from Harriman's widow, the station was much better designed, with a style that closely matched [[Tuxedo, New York|Tuxedo]]'s station to the south.
[[File:Harriman train station.jpg|thumb|The new [[Harriman station]] on the [[Port Jervis Line]]]]
The new station served the [[Erie Railroad]] for decades, until its bankruptcy where service was transitioned into the newly formed [[Erie Lackawanna Railway]], then into Conrail only 16 years later, and finally the [[Metro-North Railroad]]. By the 1980s the station was boarded up and train service had been transitioned onto the present day route, with a [[Harriman station|new station being constructed south of Harriman]] on Route 17.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-10 |title=Wayback Machine |url=http://www.erie-lackawanna.com/images/PJ_SVC_CHG_04-83.jpg |access-date=2024-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710195645/http://www.erie-lackawanna.com/images/PJ_SVC_CHG_04-83.jpg |archive-date=July 10, 2011 }}</ref> The station remained decaying until 2006 where the Harriman building inspectors told [[Norfolk Southern Railway]] (the current owners of the land it stood on) to either refurbish the station or tear it down, which the railroad chose the latter. Presently, the former railroad from River Road, Harriman to East Main Street, [[Middletown, New York|Middletown]] has been converted into a 19.5 mile long shared-use path named the [[Heritage Trail (New York)|Heritage Trail]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Trail {{!}} Orange County, NY |url=https://www.orangecountygov.com/1475/Heritage-Trail |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.orangecountygov.com}}</ref>

=== Harriman Bicentennial Capsule ===
On July 4, 1976, a time capsule was placed in a small park between South Main Street and Grove street. It was named the Harriman Bicentennial Capsule, and will be opened on July 4, 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harriman Bicentennial Capsule - Time Capsules on Waymarking.com |url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm13AXX_Harriman_Bicentennial_Capsule |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=www.waymarking.com}}</ref>

=== New Village Hall ===
In 2019, the Village Hall was demolished with plans to build a larger one combining the Village Hall and Police station, but plans had been halted with the [[COVID-19 pandemic|2020 COVID Outbreak]]. In the meantime, village services were moved to the back portion of a closed school just a little down North Main Street. Construction finally started in June 2023 and the building was finished in September 2024, with an opening ceremony on October 19, 2024.