Flooding the Valley: The Loss of Lackawack, Montela & Eureka

The Rondout Reservoir is a 6.5 mile long watershed that holds 49.6 billion gallons of water. It's located in the Catskills Mountains and is situated between the border of Ulster county and Sullivan county. (DEP 2022)

The reservoir is the central part of New York City’s Delaware water supply system. It receives water from Rondout Creek, as well as other reservoirs, such as the Cannonsville Reservoir, the Pepacton reservoir, and the Neversink Reservoir, and in turn, supplies 50% of NYC's water daily. (DEP 2022)

You can find all of this information on the Rondout reservoir detailed on the official NYC Department of Environmental Protection website (DEP 2022). What you can’t find on their website though, is what the city had to do in order to create this reservoir. The site simply says in safe, neutral, and vague language, that the reservoir “was placed into service in 1950.”

This is not the full story whatsoever. What they don’t tell you is that they completely destroyed and flooded 3 communities, displaced hundreds of families, and removed hundreds of bodies from cemeteries in order to construct these reservoirs.

Engineers from the New York City Board of Water Supply, the agency in charge of supplying NYC with clean water and constructing the reservoirs, had been surveying a proposed reservoir on Rondout Creek in Lackawack since 1907. They knew that the Ashokan Reservoir, which they had started construction on in the same year, would not be enough to sustain New York City’s ever growing need for clean water. (Sante 2020)

They had the plans for the reservoir mapped and fully determined by 1910, but these plans were then delayed because of the Great Depression, a lack of money, which was probably due to the Depression, and other construction that was being undertaken. Construction of the reservoir finally began in 1937, but was then interrupted by World War II and then the Korean War. It was eventually fully completed several years later in 1954, which was three years after the reservoir had begun to deliver water to the city. (Sante 2020)

In total, the aqueduct ended up being 85 miles long, stretching between the Rondout Reservoir and another existing water system. This aqueduct is the longest in the entire world.

Constructing the longest tunnel in the entire world wasn’t easy though, and it actually proved to be quite dangerous for the hundreds of workers working on it. Workers that were constructing the tunnel were subject to various hazards such as falling rock and natural gas explosions, and those working on the dam and reservoir faced their own dangers. By the end of construction, there had been 5,500 accidents and 74 deaths. (Time and Valleys Museum)

Before any of this construction could begin though, they needed an empty and clean space to build the reservoir so the water wouldn't be contaminated. In order to get that empty space, the B.W.S condemned the land that made up the Rondout Valley, forced all of the residents to leave, and then destroyed any and all buildings.

In total, 3 communities were destroyed- Eureka, Lackawack, and Montela- and this led to the destruction of 148 buildings, the displacement of 250 families, and the loss of over 6500 acres. (Sante 2020) All of the communities were completely destroyed, but Lackawack later relocated, and is now currently a small hamlet in the town of Warwasing. Who exactly organized this relocation, whether it be NYC or the local community themselves, is unknown.

Even the remains from eight cemeteries in the valley were removed and then relocated for reburial in nearby towns. However, during this process, no full-sized caskets were utilized. Boxes the size of apple crates were used, and due to cost, up to six boxes of remains were all buried in just one grave. (Ellenvile Public Library and Museum)

There was some resistance from the residents of these communities, however. They took advantage of the fact that city employees could not legally enter their homes to remove them and just stayed inside and refused to leave. In those instances, workers often tore off the roofs to their houses. Other residents, however, accepted the fact that their house would be bought and destroyed by NYC, and instead tried to game the system. For example, one man, in an attempt to get more money from the city, built a new house in a prime location where the property value would be high. But, he was offered way less than he had expected from the city, so he then refused to leave. He then advertised some of the rooms in the house for rent, which was a grave mistake, as it gave workers a legal right to enter his home. And after he went outside one day to run an errand, the workers came and padlocked his house. (Sante 2022)

Unfortunately, any and all attempts from residents at defying the city and staying in their house was futile. The decision to destroy the villages and flood the valley was final and there was no stopping it.

This 1870 Beers map displays the layout of Rondout, as well as all of the specific buildings and businesses that were located there.

Lackawack, the largest of the three hamlets, was very developed. It had a post office, a gas station, a blacksmith shop, a mill, a one room schoolhouse, churches, and more. It was home to a tannery located on Rondout creek that employed hundreds of men. 

The main attraction of Lackwack though was the Sheilds hotel, which was also known as the Lackawack house. It was run by proprietor John Shiels. Shiels came to Lackawack from Ireland in 1856 and bought a boarding house that could seat about 20 in the dining room. The boarding house underwent a lot of expansion through the years and eventually rose to prominence. In 1885, the hotel was listed in an issue of “Summer Homes” magazine and it claimed to now accommodate 25 people, a little more than in the years prior.

But by 1901, the Lackawack House was then being run by James D. Shiels, the son of John Shels, after John Sheils passed away. And in that year’s publication of “Summer Homes,” it stated that the Lackawack House could now accommodate 250 guests and featured amenities such as ”a bowling alley, pool & billiards, hot & cold running water on all floors and electric lights, among many other features.” (Ellenville Public Library Museum) The hotel was famous for this extravagance and people from all over the east coast traveled to the hotel, including politicians from Tammany hall in New York City. (Smythe)

The opulence was enjoyed for several years until the hotel burned down in 1917. A new, smaller hotel was built in its place and in 1937 it ended up being used as headquarters for engineers who were constructing the Merriman Dam.

Montela and Eureka were smaller than Lackawack, but were still lively communities and boasted similar facilities. They had post offices, churches, general stores, schoolhouses, mills, hotels and more. The only doctor in the greater area, Dr. Urban T. Kemble, lived in Eureka and was always ready to help patients, no matter the weather. Local renowned fiddle player, Grover Cleveland Hornbeck, also lived in Eureka and operated a garage. He was actually the first person in the larger area to own a car. (Ellenville Public Library Museum)

In Montela, Thomas Shiels, the brother of John Shiels, owned and operated a horse farm and race track called Grand View Farm.

Overall, life in the Rondout Valley was comfortable and lively. It was a home to thousands of people who lived and worked there, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Through community hikes with local residents, we attempted to find and document the little ruins that remain from Rondout, most of which are located just outside the reservoir, at Trout Creek. Finding and documenting these ruins means preserving the memory of the people who once lived and worked in these communities.

We had a few foundations that we were trying to find. Unfortunately, we were unable to find them because of the rough terrain. We did find a building foundation that we didn’t expect to find, but we’re unsure of what exactly was there.

The highlight of our hike was the tannery that we found, with the help of a local DEP officer who knew the area. He had been to the ruins of the tannery several times before, and showed us exactly how to get there. The tannery was massive in size, and in one part of the tannery we could still see depressions in the ground that indicate large square bins used to be there, possibly for storing wood or hides.

This tannery that we found was one of many that existed in Rondout and surrounding towns. Tanneries were always located near large pure water sources because they require massive amounts of water to function. There was an extensive tanning industry in the area, and by the 1850's, there was a tannery at almost every creek in the Rondout Valley. (Harris, 2022) The industry eventually declined in the years after the Civil War due to less demand, but in the years that the industrusty was active, it was extremely successful.

A lot of people are under the impression that there were no major industries in the Catskills, as the myth that the Catskills is a beautiful yet largely uninhabited wilderness is still pervades public thought. This tannery, which again was just one of many that operated in the valley, is proof that is entirely false. There were thriving communities and industries in the Catskills, and they were large and successful.

On the last part of our hike, we went to South Rondout. We found another foundation, again with the help of the DEP officer. We're not entirely sure what the building actually was, but we believe it may have been a barn.

At the foundation, we found an old hinge to what was probably a barn door, and through looking at the shape of the rusted nail that was still attached to the hinge, Dr. Biesaw was able to date the nail and determine that it was manufactured post-Civil War. This was the only artifact we found throughout the entire hike.

While the villages of Lackawack, Montela, and Eureka are officially gone, the memories of what they once were still remain, along with some actual remnants from their communities.

We may not know (as of right now) what some of those building foundations were, but overall, they are physical proof that actual people lived in these lands.

We must remember and acknowledge the people of these lost villages and share their stories.