The D&H Canal Linear Park's brown-sided Interpretive Center sits next to the historic Boothroyd House and features a niche bookshop focused on local history. Visit it for free at 16 Bova Road in Summitville.
Summitville, NY – With the widespread disappearance of retail book stores, it’s becoming more difficult for folks who like to browse shelves instead of computer screens to find reading material, especially those items that don’t fall under the heading of mass media releases.
In an effort to address this problem, the Interpretive Center at Lock 50, at Sullivan County’s Delaware & Hudson (D&H) Canal Linear Park, maintains an inventory of canal history materials, which County Historian John Conway recently described as likely the best of its kind available in the County.
Titles at the bookshop include some largely unavailable elsewhere. “Reminiscences” (371 pages, indexed, by John Willard Johnston) is a first-person, sharp-tongued narrative. The author was a Barryville resident who pulls no punches in recalling the people and places of this section of the canal’s history. His account begins with canal surveyors in his childhood and runs through to its 1898 closure.
Another difficult-to-find title is “The Raging Canal,” edited by Audrey Graybill and illustrated by Barbara Briden (softcover, 277 pages). This colorful compilation of contemporary newspaper accounts includes the experiences and misadventures of workers, passengers and adjoining residents, as well as business stories related to the D&H Canal between 1870 and 1902.
The shop also offers Cliff Robinson Jr.’s novel “Canalboat,” a modern-day thriller tied to D&H Canal history (221 pages).
“The Gravity Railroad” is a DVD offering and chapter one in a guided tour of the remains of the Gravity Railroad and D&H Canal, produced by the Delaware and Hudson Transportation Heritage Council.
Other valuable reference titles include “The Delaware &Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad,” an illustrated history by Matthew Osterberg,(128 pages); “The Delaware and Hudson Canal” by Edwin D. LeRoy (9th printing, 95pages) and “From the Coalfields to the Hudson” by Larry Rosenthal (314 pages).
All items are reasonably priced, and purchases are not subject to sales tax. Cash only.
Visit the bookshop and view the exhibits at the Interpretive Center at 16 Bova Road (off Route 209) in Summitville between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and noon and 5 p.m. on Sundays, through Columbus Day weekend. Looking for a title not listed here? Call 845-888-5040 to check inventory!