One hundred miles north of New York City, Saugerties is nestled between the silent majesty of the Catskill Mountains and the flowing waters of the Hudson River. Set in a tranquil landscape, the area possesses a wonderful combination of natural and artistic attractions: an environmental sculpture, Opus 40; Seamon Park; and a nature trail leading to the Saugerties Lighthouse. This book is a visual history made up of over 200 photographs which take readers down historic Main Street in the Village of Saugerties and through the outlying hamlets such as Katsbaan, West Camp, and Glasco. Here, you will see a late-eighteenth through mid-twentieth-century river town come alive with its early stone, brick, and iron industries. People shaped this community's identity and gave it strength. In this volume, you will meet some impressive personalities, like Augusta Savage, renowned Harlem Renaissance artist, and Roger Donlon, the first recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Vietnam conflict. Whether in the arts, industry, or in the armed services, Saugerties has nurtured many men and women of courage and vision.

Saugerties, nestled between Esopus Creek and the Hudson River on one side and the Catskill Mountains on the other, is an old village first settled by the Dutch. Following the opening of the Erie Canal, industrialist Henry Barclay set into motion plans to use the area's waterpower to turn Saugerties into an industrial community. The village became home to the Ulster Iron Works and Barclay's paper mill, and a rich supply of some of the world's most beautiful bluestone was discovered. Sidewalks for Boston and New York City came from the quarries in the area, and the blossoming industry caused Saugerties to grow from approximately 20 families in 1825 to over 4,000 citizens by the 1880s. Today the village of Saugerties is lined with beautiful Victorian buildings and is home to the first business district in the country to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Beginning as a Dutch settlement, Saugerties is scenically positioned between the Hudson River and the base of the Catskills. In 1609, the great explorer Henry Hudson's first mate, Robert Juet, recorded a meeting with Native Americans in the area. In its early days, the land was part of the Kingston Commons, one of the first municipalities in the colonies to be governed by an elected body. The town's history was shaped by industry. In the nineteenth century, bluestone quarries and paper and lead mills drove its economy, and a century later, Saugerties became a commuter town for IBM's plants. Michael Sullivan Smith chronicles the rich history of Saugerties.