Welcome

Welcome to the MTHS website

The Mountain Top Historical Society is dedicated to discovering and preserving the unique and rich history of the Catskill High Peaks. The Society is a not-for-profit organization and maintains a Visitor and Art Trail Center and the Ulster and Delaware train depot (shown above) on our campus in Haines Falls. We are located on scenic Route 23A at the gateway to the Mountain Top and are easily accessible from Exit 20 or 21 of the New York State Thruway.

 

The Town of Hunter, home to MTHS, has been designated a Preserve America Community.

 

Latest MTHS News


You are invited to our Birthday Party on August 10!

 If you missed Rails to the Catskills,

the newest film by Tobe Carey,
(See the trailer)
you can still purchase the DVD directly from
www.willowmixedmedia.org
or purchase your copy at the MTHS Visitors' Center in Haines Falls.

Check these links to see our many special events
and
the diverse list of our 2014 hikes.

 

MTHS receives gift of important photograph collection.

March 30, 2014
Our sincere thanks to Bob Mazon (4th from left) for his generous gift of digital photos, scans of conventional photos and other items. Bob has covered news and organizational events in the area, as well as photographing the landscape and communities since the 1980s. The Society is just beginning to review and catalog the collection which will be named "The Bob Mazon Collection." As we get a sense of the extent of the items, we will describe it on the website. We believe it will prove to be a valuable resource of local history.

April 28, 2014
On April 11, 2014 Bob Mazon died. Just a few weeks before that Bob had visited the Historical Society to arrange for the generous gift of his collection. We are deeply saddened by his passing and we, along with the whole Mountaintop Community, will miss him. The Historical Society will strive to protect the items he left in our care and to see to it that they become a valued legacy to the community.

 

 

Thanks to our business sponsors:

The Bank of Greene County, C & C Excavating, Central Hudson Gas and Electric, Circle W Market, Haines Falls Auto/Hunter Towing, Hunter Mountain, Greg D. Lubow Esq., Claude W. Lutz Inc., Mountain Meadow Inn B&B, Mountain Propane Inc.,  Snow Bird Ski Shop, Snowed Inn, Stewart's Shops, Dr. Elena Suditu, The Thompson House Inc., Thorpe's GMC Inc., and Traphagen's Honey, Williams Lumber and Home Centers.

 

 

 

MTHS Needs You.

The Mountain Top Historical Society has been around for 40 years fulfilling its mission of discovering, interpreting, sharing and preserving the artifacts and documents that tell the story of the towns and the people of the Great Northern Catskills. With a dedicated board of directors, loyal members and volunteers we have presented an annual lecture schedule, led hikes through the beautiful and historic area around us, restored the 100 year old train station in Haines Falls, opened a Visitors' Center to welcome tourists to the Mountain Top, built an archives room to preserve the bits of history that are entrusted to our care and maintained our 20 acre campus with pride.

We have an ambitious 2014 season planned for you.  From hiking in the Footsteps of John and William Bartram, revisiting the Laurel House and Kaaterskill Falls, and exploring Rip's Retreat in May and June to our exciting Hikefest in October, we have something for everyone this year.  In June we are also featuring the premiere of Tobe Carey's long-awaited film, Rails to the Catskills and hiking to Sam's Ice Caves in the Gunks.  July brings a hike to Tiskilwa Park in Chichester along with a visit to the Empire State Railraod Museum in Phoenicia.  Also in July we have Chuck D'Imperio celebrating small towns in Upstate, NY, our Annual Meeting, and a new film by David Becker, To Be Forever Wild.  In August check out our plans for a photo exhibit by Nancy DeFlon and a40th birthday party featuring a presentation by Larry Tompkins, music and birthday cake.  Later in the month we will host a performance by a Mark Twain interpreter at Onteora Park.  September will be the time for our 3rdAnnual Postcard Show thanks to John Duda and friends.  Plans are in the works for Hikefest in October as part of Lark in the Park.  Watch our events and hikes page for all the latest information on these and other exciting opportunities to celebrate Mountain Top history.
 
In order to keep all of these activities going we need YOU! We depend on two things to support us: membership dollars and volunteers. If you are currently a member of the MTHS, your renewal notice will be in the April mail. If you have not yet joined us, check out our website: www.mths.org and join us there, or complete and mail the attached membership form along with your check.

If you have been a volunteer with us in the past couple of years, watch your e-mail and let us know that you will continue to help out. If you have not yet volunteered, let us know what you can do and how much time you have to give. We need people to help maintain the buildings and grounds; people to staff the Visitors' Center; people to help with the archives; people to sell raffle tickets and food at our events; and more. Our schedule is flexible and we'll find a way to bring you in. Contact us at or call 518 589-6657 and leave a message.

Upcoming

It's been a long cold season bringing a winter beauty to the Catskills and opportunities to enjoy winter activities that the region is famous for. Now, with Spring approaching, we at the the Society are forming plans for programs, hikes and increased activity in our Visitors' Center. Preliminary hike plans to go to a variety of destinations here in the Catskills and to some surrounding areas are underway. Hikes this year will be led by familiar guides including Paul Misko, Dr. Robert Titus, Bob Gildersleeve, and Carol and David White.

We will reprise our walk of the site of Rip's Retreat that proved so popular a few years back, and head down to the southern Shawangunks (pronounced “Shawngums” by traditionalists and “The Gunks” by rock climbers). There we will make our first visit to the Ice Caves at Sam's Point. With the cold winter we can expect to find ice well into June.

Again this year the Visitors' Center will be open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:00 to 4:00 starting in May and in addition on weekends a little later in the season.

A full schedule of public programs is available now on our events page.

Look for changes in our website prompted by our need to repair the site after problems caused by vulnerabilities in the now-dated software on which the site was built. We plan to take this as an opportunity to make improvements to the site.

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