Located halfway between New York City and Albany, the Gardiner and Minnewaska region includes not only the Wallkill Valley lowlands but also Lake Minnewaska, a mountain lake, and the wonders of the mountains around it. The region, settled some three hundred years ago by French Huguenots and Dutch, long featured dairy and fruit farming in the valley and millstone cutting and berry picking in the mountains. In stunning photographs, Gardiner and Lake Minnewaska portrays the history of this region: the Tuthilltown gristmill, in operation for more than two hundred years; the Gardiner boarding houses and Minnewaska mountain hotels, which for years attracted guests; the state park that developed as the hotels disappeared and that now offers a vast network of hiking trails; and the rise of two new daring sports: rock climbing and skydiving.

When the Borden family arrived in the nineteenth century, educational opportunities in Ulster County were limited; classes rarely extended beyond the eighth grade. This changed when the philanthropic Bordens established their Borden Condensed Milk Company and gave Wallkill the means to construct one of the area's first high schools. In 1938, Central School District No. 1--incorporating the towns of Shawangunk, Plattekill, Gardiner, Marlborough, Newburgh and Montgomery--was formed after residents voted to consolidate the John G. Borden High School with surrounding one- and two-room schoolhouses. Although those early schoolhouses are now long gone, the proud tradition of education and service carries on in the Leptondale, Clare F. Ostrander and Plattekill Elementary Schools; the John G. Borden Middle School; and the Wallkill Senior High School. Local educators A.J. Schenkman and Elizabeth Werlau explore Wallkill Central School District's seventy-five years of educational excellence.

Situated between the Shawangunk Mountains and the Hudson River, the town of Plattekill has long served as an important crossroads for neighboring communities. Since its settlement, the town's roads, railway, and aqueduct have provided vital links to surrounding counties, allowed access to the Hudson River, and transported resources to and from New York City. The unique character of the town's three main hamlets is evident in the images compiled here, while the smaller hamlets and neighborhoods documented within reflect the ever-changing nature of the town. More than two centuries of history are recalled through vivid photographs, many published for the first time, that evoke the spirit of Plattekill's people and places, the era of resorts, the villas and boardinghouses, the times of war and of expansion, and various milestones in the town's history.