Chichester, New York facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chichester, NY
hamlet
Etymology: from founder's name
Country	United States
State	New York
Region	Catskills
County	Ulster
Founded by	Frank and Lemuel Chichester
ZIP code	12416
Area code(s)	845

Chichester, New York is a small community. It is known as a hamlet. You can find it in the northern part of the town of Shandaken. It sits right on the border between Ulster and Greene counties.

It's important not to confuse Chichester, New York, with the city of Chichester in West Sussex, England. A key difference is how you say the name. In New York, the "i" in Chichester sounds like the "eye" in "my," not like the "i" in "chip."

History of Chichester, NY

How Chichester Started

The hamlet of Chichester was founded in 1863. It was started by two brothers, Frank and Lemuel Chichester. The town is named after them. Their father, Samuel Chichester, was famous for building the Catskill Mountain House.

The brothers were looking for a good spot to build a furniture factory. When they found the perfect place, workers started moving into the area around the factory. This is how Chichester began as a company-owned town. In 1881, a narrow gauge train track was built through the town. This was the Stony Clove and Catskill Mountain Railroad. It later became part of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad.

Life in the Company Town

Back then, it was common for workers to be paid with "company scrip." This was like special money that could only be used at the factory's own general store.

Later, a man named William O. Schwartzwaelder bought the furniture factory. He was from Germany, and he renamed the factory after himself. The rest of the hamlet also started to grow. All the houses and buildings were built by the factory. The town had one general store. It sold many things like saddles, animal feed, and hardware. There was also a post office and a schoolhouse. The old schoolhouse is now a regular house.

The End of the Factory Era

The furniture factory closed down in 1939. This was a few years after the Great Depression, which hurt many businesses. At that time, the village had 44 houses and buildings. On October 28, 1939, the entire hamlet was put up for auction. Joseph Day was the auctioneer. People bought the houses and buildings at this auction. Since then, Chichester has been owned by private individuals.

Geography of Chichester

Location in the Catskills

Chichester is located inside the Catskill Park. It sits in a valley surrounded by mountains. The northern part of the hamlet is next to Greene County. It is directly south of another hamlet called Lanesville.

Local Creeks

Two main creeks flow through Chichester. One is the Stony Clove Creek. It starts at Notch Lake in Edgewood. The other is Warner's Creek, which also begins in Edgewood. Locals sometimes call these two creeks Stony Clove and Ox Clove.