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TOWN of
ROCKLAND:
Telephone Numbers, History and Hamlets
Town of Rockland
95 Main Street
P.O. Box 964
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-4399
Meeting Times
Town Board -First & Third Thursdays at 7:30 PM
Planning Board - First Wednesday at 7:30 PM
Town of Rockland Supervisor
Patricia Pomeroy
95 Main Street
P.O. Box 964
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-4399 ext. 301
607-498-5757
Fax: 845-439-3775
supervisor@catskill.net
Hours
Call for Information
Town Councilmen
Ed Edwards, Deputy Supervisor
Ph.: 845-439-3620
Glen Carlson
Ph.: 845-439-5838
Gail Owen
Ph.: 845-439-5384
Rich Welch
Ph.: 845-439-5309
Hours
Call for Information
Town Clerk
Judy Newman
95 Main Street
P.O. Box 964
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-5450 ext. 300
Fax: 845-439-3775
rocklandtwn@catskill.net
Hours
Mon. 9 AM - 4:30 PM
Tues. 9 AM - 4:30 PM
Wed. 9 AM - 4:30 PM
Thurs. 9 AM - 4:30 PM
Fri. 9 AM - 4 PM
Town Highway Department
Bowman Owen, Superintendent
Town Barn
Beaverkill Road
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-4213
Fax: 845-439-5110
After Hours / Emergency
Ph.: 845-439-4067
Hours
Call for Information
Water & Sewer Department
Robert Wolcott, Superintendent
Covered Bridge Road
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-4910
watersewer@catskill.net
After Hours / Emergency
Ph.: 845-439-3772
Hours
Call for Information
Building Inspector / Code Enforcement Officer
Charles Irace
95 Main Street
P.O. Box 964
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-5450 ext. 305
845-439-4919
Hours
Call for Information
Assessor
Cynthia Theadore
95 Main Street
P.O. Box 964
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-3730 ext. 306
Hours
Call for Information
Tax Collector
Kim Taggert
P.O. Box 349
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-3657
Hours
Call for Information
Town Justice
Hon. Harold Madison
Hon. Frank Gibson
PO Box 28
1939 Old Route 17
Roscoe, NY 12758
Clerk: Patricia Mills
Ph.: 607-498-4320
Hours
Call for Information
Dog Control Officer
Hank Wolcott
Ph.: 845-439-3963
Hours
Call for Information
Town of Rockland Planning Board
Tom Quick, Chariman
P.O. Box 464
Roscoe, NY 12776
Ph.: 607-498-4327
Hours
Call for Information
Town of Rockland Zoning Board of Appeals
Sheila Shultz, Chairman
P.O. Box 595
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-5339
Hours
Call for Information
Other Government Officials
Greg Goldstein
District III Legislator
100 North Street
Monticello, NY 12701
Ph.: 845-794-3000 ext. 3300
Fax.: 845-794-0650
Assemblyman Jake Gunther
98th Assembly District
20 Anawana Lake Road
Monticello, NY 12701
Ph.: 845-794-5807
Fax.: 845-794-5910
Senator John Bonacic
40th Senatorial District
Suite 202, 279 Main St.
New Paltz, NY 12561
Ph.: 845-255-9656
Fax.: 845-255-9262
US Post Office
Main Street
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
Ph.: 845-439-5580
HISTORY
The Town of Rockland was formed in 1809; taken from the town of Neversink.
In 1909, for the centennial celebration, a pamphlet was printed giving details
of the town's settlement, the text of which is transcribedhere:
<![CDATA[
Early Settling of Rockland. The Big Beaverkill Flats--later Lower Westfield then
Westfield Flats--Rockland-Roscoe was visited by scouts or land viewers from
Massachusetts and Connecticut at the close of the revolutionary war. The flats
were covered with Pine, Hemlock and Laurel--the land lookers reported in New
England that there were 10,000 acres of rich level land. The location had long
been an Indian camping ground and trails radiated in all directions, one running
to Cochecton, one up the Beaverkill and one over the divide to Pakatakan, now
Margaretville, another by Spring Brook and Brock Mountain to Downsville. One
branch of the main Indian-way from Esopus to the Susquehanna country ran by
Warwarsing, Neversink, Parksville, Westfield and down the Beaverkill to
Shehawken, now Hancock, thence to Deposit, Oquaga, etc. For ... the trails
followed the tops of the ridges and higher ground, the stream valleys being
covered with dense growth of timber, laurel and vines. The first settlers at
Roscoe-Rockland were Jehiel Stewart and family and his brother Luther, who came
from Middletown, Connecticut. They located and remained about a year at
Warwarsing and in 1789 removed to the Big Beaverkill Flats. They came with
ox-sled up the Lackawack and across the hills to the Neversink, then westerly
across what is now the town of Liberty to the Blue Mountains and by Broadhead
Pond, and its outlet to the Little Beaverkill, then down that stream and the
Willowemoc to its junction with the Big Beaverkill. The men cut roads and blazed
trail, Rachel Stewart, the wife of Jehiel, walking with her children. Jehiel
Stewart bought from John R. Livingston Lot No. 24, west allotment, middle
division, Great Lot No. 4, on which he built the first log house erected in
northern Sullivan County. The available portion of Lot 24 is now solidly built
over by the village of Roscoe. Robert Cochran and a Mr. West soon settled near
Stewart (about 1790) and Levi Kimball and Samuel Darbee bought lots 21 and 22 in
1796 and by 1800 all the lots from the Beaverkill ford above Rockland down to
the forks and up the Willowemoc to Buck Eddy were occupied by settlers, mostly
neighbors and relatives from Massachusetts and Connecticut, the more prominent
names being Stewart, Cochran, Dodge, Morton, Kimball, Darbee, Fish, Williams,
etc. The location was at that time a part of the town Rochester, Ulster County;
in 1798 it became a part of Neversink, and April 1st, 1809 the town of Rockland
was cut off from Neversink. In early days the locality was known as lower
Westfield, as distinguished from upper Westfield, now Livingston Manor, which
was settled between 1790 and 1800. The railroad station at Roscoe was known as
Westfield Flats from 1873 to about 1884, then as Rockland to about 1900, then
Roscoe. Rockland Postoffice was established in 1826, Samuel Darbee being the
first postmaster, and the office for many years was kept at the old Darbee house
and at Peter Stewart's house on Lot 24. The Jehiel Stewart house stood on the
lot now occupied by the house of Mrs. Robert Lindsay. The present house was
built by Rensselaer S. Appley, a grandson of Jehiel Stewart. Luther Stewart
built a saw mill near the forks of the rivers. Robert Cochran built a saw mill
on the site of the grist mill at Rockland. Samuel Darbee was a fuller and dyer
by trade. He built a fulling mill near the Robert Cochran saw mill. This cloth
dressing establishment acquired a wide patronage and was in operation about
twenty-five years. Woolen cloth from long distance being sent there to be
finished. The frugal housewife of that day carded the wool, spun the yarn and
wove the cloth that clothed the family. The first school at Westfield Flats was
taught in a private house by Sylvanus Bascom, who was a settler at the mouth of
Boscom Brook, now in the middle district. The first school house was a plank
building located between the Darbee Brook and the highway just north of Dr. R.C.
Tuttle's residence. About 1849 the district was divided; district No. 1 building
a new school house on the Darbee knoll and district No. 7 building at the upper
end of Rockland. The cold spring at the foot of the Mountain back of
W.J.Reynold's residence is known to old residents as the Luther spring, it
having been a favorite of Luther Stewart. That part of the old cemetery at
Roscoe which was formerly enclosed by a stone wall was used from the first, one
half the land being from the Cornelius Cochran farm and one half from the Jehiel
Stewart farm. After being in use many years, the land was deeded by Cochran and
Stewart to James Morton, Supervisor of Rockland, for use of the town. The newer
portion was owned by Peter Stewart, who had it surveyed and mapped and sold the
lots to individuals. A Mr. Harrington was one of the first to be buried in the
old cemetery; he went to Adam J. Doll's store at Downsville after salt, powder,
lead, etc.; on his way home it appeared he was taken ill and was found dead near
the site of the Spring Brook acid factory; he had left a part of his goods in
tow or three places along the trail, apparently to lighten his burden and was
found sitting against a large elm tree. The territory comprised in Rockland was
never a part of Liberty, yet at the first town meeting of Liberty, held April
7th, 2807, the following "good men tried and true" were elected
officers for Liberty, viz: Robert Cochran, Esq., President, Samuel Darbee,
Teller of Votes, Levi Kimball, Assessor, Samuel Darbee, Com. of Highways, Robert
Cochran, Overseer of Poor, William Cochran, Constable, Cornelius Cochran, Path
Master. Of the twenty officers elected, the above seven were residents of Lower
Westfield, at that time a part of Neversink. Maybe they thought Liberty needed
help, maybe the craving for public office engendered by the New England town
meeting started them over the Blue Mountains to Roswell Russell's house on the
site of Liberty village to vote. Query--is it strange that the descendents of
these pioneers still want to be Supervisors, Town Clerks, Assessors, etc. The
first store in the town was opened about 1820 by William Sprague and Hezekiah
Loveland. It was located on the William Sprague farm, now owned by Joseph
Sherwood, one half mile east of Roscoe. Goods were brought by sailing vessels
from New York to Newburgh an from there by teams to Westfiel In 1824 both
Sprague and Loveland went to New York to buy goods. With about forty other
people, they took passage homeward on the sloop Neptune on which their goods
were being freighted. When in sight of Newburgh, a storm capsized the vessel and
Mr. Loveland and about thirty others were drowned, Mr. Sprague being one of the
half dozen who escaped. (From _ROSCOE AND ROCKLAND 1909._, a brochure produced
for the town's centennial celebration, author unknown. Copies of this
transcription may NOT be sold for any reason. ) ]]>
The township of Rockland contains these hamlets:
Anderson
Beaverkill
Brown Settlement
Cragie Clair
Debruce
Deckertown
Grooville (Emmonsville)
Hazel
Hunter Lake
Joscelyn
Lew Beach (Shin Creek)
Livingston Manor
Morsston
Parkston
Purvis
Rockland
Roscoe (Westfield Flats)
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ELLA: The Edgewood Lakes Landowners Association
