An illustrated talk, “Homesteads to Go-Karts: A History of the Denver-Vega Valley,” will be presented at the Middletown History Center, 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville July 14 at 1 p.m.
This is the second of five ‘Second Sunday’ events sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, whose president, Diane Galusha will be the speaker. Admission is by donation.
The program describes the hamlets of Denver and Vega and the farms, schools, churches, stores and post offices around which valley life centered.
The talk will span 270 years, beginning with land leases of early homesteaders in the 1790s, and stretching to the Denver Go-Kart Speedway of the 1960s. Stories recounted in the program were taken from diaries, newspapers and other period sources, including former residents recorded by HSM and the Open Eye Theater in separate oral history projects.
The bucolic valley which traverses Middletown and Roxbury once had 50 farms, a creamery, three schools, two churches, an active Grange, a ski center, a hopping dance hall and several busy boarding houses. A fire decimated Vega in the 1930s, farms ceased operating, vacationers went elsewhere and the schools and general stores closed. Today the valley is the quiet home to many full-timers, retirees and weekend residents.
For more information call 845-586-4973 or email history@catskill.net Information about HSM events and programs can be found at mtownhistory.org
