Historical Society of Middletown, Delaware County, NY

06/19/2026

Headed to the Round Barn Saturday for greens and cheese and other local delights? Stop at the Historical Society table, get your raffle tickets for a hand-made clock, and find out how to reserve your seats for our not-to-be-missed living history performance "Middletown and the Revolution," coming up in just three weeks. Curious about the history of the nearby hamlet of Halcottsville? Pick up your copy of "As the River Runs" and read all about it. Come say hello to Anne and Jonathan and learn more about HSM! This photo of the round barn, when it was operated by David Mead, was taken in 1920.

06/11/2026

Tickets are now available for the July 11 and 12 performances of Middletown and the Revolution: Voices from the Frontier. Secure your seats on our website, mtownhistory.org. It's fast and easy! There are 3 performances -- don't get shut out!

06/07/2026

Our annual headstone cleaning project gives us a chance to reflect on the lives of those whose names are inscribed in granite or marble or sandstone. This year, volunteer Kim Fees had the honor of bringing the name of Everett Samuel Paine back into the sunlight. On this day, June 7, 1944, the short, happy life of "Bus" Payne ended in France. He was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne, one of 13,000 men to jump into the fray. It's not clear where or how he died. He was buried in France. It's not known if his body was returned after the war or if this headstone is a cenotaph. Bus became the fifth MCS graduate lost in the war. Before WWII was over, 13 of the 295 young men from MCS who served would lose their lives. Bus Payne's parents were Warren and Ethel Twist Paine. He had three older sisters. They lived on Swart Street, Margaretville.

06/05/2026

What are you doing Saturday? Come visit the resident goose family at the Middletown History Center, and see a slide show of other wonderful nature photos by John Lehmann. The program starts at 2 p.m. but the archives will be open from 10 to 1. Bring your questions, curiosity or historic items to donate to the collection. 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

05/30/2026

Three young friends on the steps of the Marks home, Swart St., Margaretville, l. to r.:

Dawn Birdsall Roadman, Willis Marks and June Close Valk. The house was a Sears Roebuck catalogue house, now the home of Gail Lennstrom. It is 100 years old this year.

05/25/2026

Take a few minutes this Memorial Day to read the names of Revolutionary War veterans who settled or lived for a time in Middletown. There were 40 of them, collected here with additional information about their lives.

PRESERVATION PROJECTS: Revolutionary War Veterans In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the start of the Revolution in 1776, HSM documented the service of 40 Revolutionary War veterans who lived in Middletown after the war. Revolutionary War....

05/23/2026

SCAM ALERT!
Apparently scammers are using our page to urge people to buy Historical Society t-shirts and giving them a url to order them. Don't waste your money, folks! We are NOT selling t-shirts!

05/19/2026

Back in the day, if you needed to lay a water pipe, you didn't call a contractor with a backhoe to dig a trench, you picked up a shovel and did it yourself. That's what Raymond Ward was doing when he was captured in this photo, c. 19teens, supplied by his great grandson, Leonard Utter. The photo was taken on the Embree Johnson farm, formerly the Gavette farm, on what is now state land at Kelly Hollow, Millbrook.

05/15/2026

05/13/2026

This little guy, one of 9 goslings on the History Center pond, is too cute for words. Luckily, we have John Lehmann to take a picture, worth a thousand of them. John will give a slide show of his nature photographs Sat., June 6 at 2 p.m. Meantime, you can see the new family in person when you come to the program on Esopus Indians and their world 1730-77 this Sunday, May 17 at 2. The History Center is at 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.