MIDDLETOWN - Local historians Diane Galusha and John Duda had a packed house Saturday, Aug. 5, when they delivered a fascinating presentation on major fires that changed lives and local landscapes in three different centuries of area history.
“Ablaze!” sponsored by the Historical Society of Middletown was hosted by the Catskill Watershed Corporation at its auditorium on county Route 38 in Arkville and gave residents and visitors an opportunity to view the “Of Rivers and Reservoirs” exhibit by the Catskill Water Discovery Center.
Galusha, president of the Historical Society of Middletown and a well known local author, opened the presentation with a dedication to all of the local firefighters through the centuries. She pointed out that many firefighters were in the audience and that all fire departments in the region are staffed entirely by volunteers who handle the dangerous business of fires, floods and other disasters in service to their communities.
Duda, a Fleischmanns historian and long-time collector and cataloger of heirloom artifacts, presented the second half of the program, focusing on fires in Fleischmanns. Galusha centered her comments on the fires themselves, telling the histories of the buildings and relating stories of what happened during and after the fires.
Duda dove into the causes of the fires and some of the out-of-area publicity they generated.
The first fire featured by Galusha destroyed the Riverside Hotel in Margaretville. It was built in 1846 by William O’Connor and sold to Andrew Eastman who died shortly after taking over. According to the records compiled by Galusha, the local undertaker, Charles Gorsch, was embalming Eastman in an upstairs room in the hotel when an oil lamp fell and exploded. Gorsch escaped with the body as did 20 hotel guests. Noting that the village of Margaretville had many hotels even in the early in 19th and 20th centuries, Galusha pointed out that the area has always attracted tourists, even before the railroad was active in delivering them to the region. Today, the Margaretville Central School sits on the site of the disaster.
The brick “Parsons” building at the corner of Main and Maple Streets in Margaretville houses an insurance agency and a dentist’s office today. But in 1845, it was the site of the Ackerly House, the second nice hotel in Margaretville, and it too suffered a series of fires.
Among them was a 1903 chimney fire that burned the top two floors of the hotel while the bottom two were saved. The site was sold in 1904 and renamed the Pocantico Inn after it underwent a dramatic remodeling project.
In 1928, Dr. Gordon Mauer moved to Margaretville and started the community’s first hospital in one wing of the inn. In addition to treatment rooms, he had a surgical suite and many other “modern” hospital conveniences, but four months after his arrival, fire destroyed the building and temporarily ended the hospital effort.
Among the most impactful fires in Margaretville was the Kelly’s Hotel fire in 1977 on the site that now houses the Binnekill Square complex. Built by Charles Bowl in 1941 and known first as the Bowl’s Hotel, it was sold to Claude Kelly in 1948 and operated by him and his wife Donnie. The couple did a dramatic remodeling and created a “state of the art” diner with the most modern décor and kitchen equipment. It was sold to Charles Schoonmacher in the early 1960s but a grease fire in a vent fan caused a blaze that wiped out the hotel, the apartments and the adjacent building. Not only was the hotel destroyed but the village also lost five apartments, its bakery, Finch’s Frozen Food Lockers and a barber shop. The properties were at the heart of the Margaretville business district, leaving a gaping hole that spurred business leaders to form the MARK Project to pursue a redevelopment strategy. Nearly 50 years later, the Binnekill Square complex built by Vincent Giacci continues to thrive at the site and the MARK Project continues to serve the region with housing and development initiatives.
Duda’s presentation focused on Fleischmanns, which once boasted 60 hotels served by the Fleischmanns train station. Duda said that in 1913, the Ulster and Delaware Railroad brought 676,000 passengers to the region. Today, only two of those hotels exist as operating hotels. The historian noted that while fires were caused by lightning, gas leaks and electrical malfunctions, many were also caused by arson. He displayed a New York Times feature story from 1976 that highlighted the fires as an example of the decline of the Catskills. Closing on a more positive note, Duda pointed out that one of the most historic hotels in Fleischmanns, the St. Regis Hotel, survived at least one serious fire and continues to operate as a hotel today.
