Historic Sloatsburg

This area was first inhabited by the Leni-Lenape Indians.  An archaeological excavation of an Indian shelter in Sloatsburg disclosed artifacts dating back over 5,000 years.  (See display at the Sloatsburg Library).

In 1738 Dutch settler, Wynant Van Gelder purchased a tract of land called Pothat from the local Indians - that tract was to become the village of Sloatsburg.  In 1747 Van Gelder deeded the land to his brother-in-law, Isaac Van Duzer (Van Deursen).  Van Duzer in turn deeded the property in 1763 to his son-in-law, Stephen Sloat.  At that time, there was no inland route for wagon travel upstate to Albany and other northern settlements.  Dutch settlers like Isaac Van Duzer, Stephen Sloat and others recognized that an old Indian trail through the Ramapo Pass could be widened and leveled to form such a route.  They began this work and also expanded their homes into inns to accommodate the travelers along this roadway.  The old Sloat home & Inn at the entrance to Sloatsburg has been preserved and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This route was fully opened for wagon traffic at about the time of the start of the Revolutionary War.  The British had conquered New York City and were intent upon seizing Albany.  General Washington blocked their access on  the Hudson River with a huge chain stretched across the river and gun emplacements at West Point.  To block the inland route at the Ramapo Pass, he established a command post at the Sloat home and placed Captain Stephen Sloat in charge of the troops guarding the Pass.  Stephen's eldest son, Private John Sloat was subsequently shot by a sentry and buried on a grass knoll that later became the Sloat Family burial plot and eventually the Sloatsburg Cemetery - also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Isaac Sloat, son of pioneer Stephen and brother of Pvt. John was the first entrepreneur of this area. By 1792 he had constructed a dam across the Ramapo river with a system of sluice gates and a mill race to provide water power to run a saw mill and tannery located in what is now downtown Sloatsburg.  Jacob Sloat, a son of Isaac, constructed a cotton mill in 1815.  His operation was so successful that it was enlarged several times and continued to be a major local employer until destroyed by fire in 1955.  It was Jacob Sloat and his industry that put Sloatsburg on the map, becoming an incorporated village in 1929.

In 1800, the Orange Turnpike Association was formed and until the NYS Thruway was completed in 1957, the Orange Turnpike - now Route 17 - was the only major route to upstate New York.  Thousand of passengers passed through "Downtown Sloatsburg" annually.  The Glenwood Inn, Taylor's Inn and the Henry Inn were elegant restaurants and hotels catering to those travelers in the early 1900's.  Commerce flourished in "Downtown Sloatsburg" during that period. Multiple grocery stores, gasoline stations, departments stores, and many other stores and services lined "Main Street Sloatsburg" until after World War II when the concept of shopping malls and other social changes negatively impacted shopping in local villages.  Sloatsburg is now primarily a remote and environmentally attractive residential area for commuters who work in other areas.

Glenwood Hotel

1999 Historic Preservation Merit Award Winner

Presently: Character's Restaurant & Lounge
Originally: The Glenwood Hotel

The Glenwood Hotel is an historic landmark in the Village of Sloatsburg, NY.  In 1998,  new owners, Mr. & Mrs. DeMatteis made needed structural repairs while preserving the original structure and restoring the original appearance of the Glenwood Hotel of the early 1900's. In December of 1998, the restored building was reopened as the Aldente Italian American Restaurant.

The Village of Sloatsburg has a rich historical heritage. A number of early sites and structures still exist but many are in need of restoration.  The efforts of the Mr. and Mrs. DeMatteis in restoring one of the Village's oldest buildings, the historic Glenwood Hotel, for adaptive use as an haute-cuisine  restaurant  sets an excellent example and theme for encouraging further restoration activities in the Village.


HISTORY & CHRONOLOGY: 

Tax records of the late 1800's identify this property as containing three buildings.  One small building behind the present restaurant,  was to serve in the early 1900's as ice house for the Glenwood hotel.  A second, located in what is now the parking lot, served in the early 1900's as the Barber shop of Louis D'Avanzo then during the mid 1900's as the Boland Market.  This dilapidated old building was razed in 1974.  The third and largest building served in the late 1800's as a rooming house and was to became the Glenwood Hotel.  Henry Tobin purchased the property in 1903.  In 1906 Tobin's Saloon is listed in the Erie RR Directory for Sloatsburg and in 1908 the Glenwood Hotel is first listed.  The first floor was remodeled to serve as a restaurant offering open-air dining on the large veranda style porch in addition to an elegant main dining room..  The upper floors continued to be operated as boarding rooms, primarily for workers in the mills of Sloatsburg until around 1950.  The Glenwood Hotel was owned and operated by Henry and Kathleen Tobin.

Until the NYS Thruway opened in 1957, the Orange Turnpike (Route 17) was the only major highway for travelers from NYC, Rockland county and New Jersey to drive to upstate New York, Vermont and Canada.  The elegant dining rooms of the Glenwood Hotel, located directly on the Orange Turnpike, became a favorite dinner stop for many travelers.  This was also during the most active and years of nearby Tuxedo Park and those wealthy patrons were reported to be regulars at the Glenwood as well.  It is even rumored that during prohibition years (1920-1933),  the Glenwood offered its patrons other incentives as well.  Before prohibition, there was a workingman's bar in the rear but Mr. Tobin stood guard to ensure that no-one without a jacket and tie entered the dining room.

The Glenwood Hotel flourished as a restaurant for fine dining for nearly fifty years -  until the opening of the NYS Thruway diverted travelers away from the Orange Turnpike.  That, plus a diminishing of the super-rich era in Tuxedo Park, significantly reduced the traditional clientele for a first class restaurant.     

Sometime after the death of Mr. Tobin (1928),  a sister of Kathleen Tobin, Mrs. Williams recently widowed, came with her two children, Claire and Kerwin Williams, to live with Mrs. Tobin.  After Mrs. Tobin's death (1948) Claire and Kerwin lived in the upstairs of the building and continued the operation of the restaurant as the Glenwood Inn until around 1970.

The Henry Club

Presently: Valley Rock Mountain Market
Originally: The Henry Club

Originally called the Association Hall, this three story building was constructed in 1911 by the 180 member Carpenter's Union, the Mason's Union and the Painter's Union.  The third floor served as the Union Hall for many years to come.

In 1914, The Henry Club was conceived and made possible by Mrs. Alfred Loomis of Tuxedo Park.  It was named in memory of her son who died young.  The Henry Club comprised primarily the second floor which was remodeled, equipped and furnished by Mrs. Loomis and boasted a modern gas lighting system donated by a local businessman.  The Club was controlled by a local board of directors for use by all residents and served as Sloatsburg's community center from 1914 through 1942.

The large second floor served many functions, including:

Movie Theater/Dance Floor/Theatrical State/Auditorium/Gymnasium/Kitchen/Library and Reading Room/Card and Billiard Room.

Its activities included:

Dime Movies/Bingo Games/Saturday Night Dances/Plays and Concerts/Dance Classes/Community Meetings/Christmas and Halloween Parties/Labor Day Picnics and Clam Bakes

A local band, Glee Club and Dramatic Club performed here regularly.  There were stairs behind the state leading up to dressing rooms on the third floor.

Sloatsburg School graduations were held here for many years.

Catholic services were held in the Henry Club for a period prior to the completion of St. Joan of Arc Church in 1924.

Civic  groups organized at the Henry Club and who held their early meetings and ceremonies in this building included:

Sloatsburg Daughters of America (1914)
Sloatsburg Boy Scouts (1916)
Sloatsburg Girl Scouts (1919)
Sloatsburg Volunteer Fire Department (1923)

Jacob Sloat House

Written by Peter Bush

"Harmony Hall", original home of Jacob Sloat, built 1848. A considerable example of late Greek Revival style. Typified by raised center section and flanking symmetrical wings, with verandah carried by squared piers or classical antae. Built on a knoll in the town center of Sloatsburg, NY, the grounds included a long entrance drive with fountain and garden ornaments in the manner of design suggested by the influence of horticulturist, Andrew Jackson Downing.

Jacob was a mechanical genius and held the third patent granted by the U.S.A. in 1813. In addition, Jacob was the owner and operator of a mill for the manufacture of cotton cloth and later twine in connection with stocks and dies, in which latter articles Jacob Sloat was soon to lead the New York market.

The mill provided an economic anchor for the village of Sloatsburg, providing jobs and resulting in a vital commercial main street that included sundry shops, eating establishments and three houses of worship.

In the 20th Century "Harmony Hall" became an elegant restaurant and later a rest home for women. Harmony Hall has recently been purchased by the Town of Ramapo under their open space program.  A committee has been established to preserve, restore and oversee the operation of Harmony Hall.  The Chairperson of this Committee is Mr. Harrison O. Bush.

The Sloats House & Inn

Description Excerpted from National Registry
 (listed 1976)

The history of this house may go back to Wynant Van Gelder in 1738, or Isaac Van Deusen (bapt. Feb. 6, 1698) in 1747, when they respectively owned and lived on this land-the first white settlers in this part of the Clove.  The rear wing, now mainly kitchen, gives the appearance of being very early and primitive.

Stephen Slot (1727-1808) came from Hackensack and married Martha Van Dusen (Marritje 1727-1807) about 1753.  Stephen's great grandfather was Jan Pietersen (Peter) Slot who came from Holstein, Holland before 1662 and settled at Corlear's Hook.  This tract in Pothat (now Sloatsburg, named for Stephen and his descendants) was conveyed as a gift to Martha and Stephen by her father, Isaac Van Dusen (Deusen), on June 3, 1763.  Stephen and Martha had: John in 1754, who became a captain in the Cornwall Militia in the Revolution and was accidentally and fatally shot by one of their own sentries in the doorway of the Sloat House (bullet marks exist); Isaac (1758-1821) who inherited the house; Elizabeth, born in 1761; and Maria, born in 1767.

Captain John's son, Rear Admiral John Drake Sloat (1781-1867) had a brilliant naval career.  As Commodore, his most famous feat was the capture from Mexico and claiming of the territory of California for the United States on July 7, 1846 before the British could do so.  Ironically, his namesake and ancestor, Sir. Francis Drake, had accomplished the same feat for England in 1579.  A monument to Commander-in-Chief Sloat remains at Monterey, California.

Stephen either built or enlarged this house in 1755.  Indications in the structure lead one to believe that a frame section, in addition to the old part stone wing, existed at the time of the Revolution, which has now been replaced.  Probably the most important event in the history of the house is that, according to Willard Deyoe (writer), General George Washington stayed here on Sunday, June 5, 1779, and may have stopped here previously as he frequently used the road through the Clove.

Stephen's son Isaac married Lea Zabriskie about 1779, built a tannery in 1792 and probably built the main front part of the house in 1813-14.  Isaac ran it as a public house and it was the annual meeting place of "Supervisors, and Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Orange and Rockland counties for 23 years (1798-1821) for the purpose of inspecting and examining the mortgages, minutes, and accounts of the loan officers appointed in the county of Orange under the act for loaning moneys belonging to the State."

Isaac's son Stephen (1789-1861) and Jacob inherited the house.  Stephen married Catherine Mead Ward in 1809 and was a prominent farmer and manufacturer, building first a grist mill.  He ran the house as an inn known for its good food but allowed no alcoholic drinks.  It was a well-known stage stop, and the barn, with its eight stalls for the four coach horses, still exists.  Brother Jacob became Major Sloat and went into manufacturing.  He gave property for the Methodist Church in 1837 and built the brick railroad station.  Stephen's son, William Lafayette Sloat (b. 1824), ran the mill, bought and erected stores, and bought out the other heirs to the homestead.

Old Erie Railroad Station

Brown's Family

The following was excerpted from "Historic Sloatsburg". Gene Kuykendall. Additional Research By Janet Farrelly-Reimer and Kathy Goldman.

His parents, Edward Brown and Ann Carney came from Cappamore, Ireland-hence the name "Cappamore Farm".  Nicholas was a kind man, who originally had twelve children.  Three of the children died soon after birth, but the other nine lived a very eventful life.  Some of the children are still alive today.

Nicholas was an alderman (councilman) ion New York City.  He also owned apartment buildings in NYC, which was how he was able to build a mansion for himself and his family-"The Brown Estate".  He had bought land in Sloatsburg from a man named Theodore Hath.  My great grandfather chose to locate there because of the beautiful natural surroundings. 

Nicholas eventually contracted the flu, and my great-grandmother hired a nurse, Mrs. McCarthy to take care of him.  The nurse stayed at the house and eventually my great-grandfather had given Mrs. McCarthy the flu as well.  So then Mrs. Brown had to take care of the nurse.  My great-grandfather never recovered from this and eventually died, June 20, 1917 at the age of 68.  Mrs. McCarthy, however, did recover.  Mrs. Brown never did catch the flu.

Nicholas T. Brown was remembered well by his children.  My great-uncle Tom was just 10 years old when his father died.  He remembers his dad as a "pipe smoker" who was always very good to him.