Upper Delaware Valley Photo Tour (Narrowsburg/Callicoon) (New York, Ithaca: appointed, sale)

[SteelCityRising]

Good afternoon my Northern neighbors! Some time ago another forum member recommended that I scope out the Route 97 corridor as it parallels the Delaware River across from Wayne County, PA. Since I had to pick up a birthday present for my ex-boyfriend in Honesdale, PA today, I decided to take the extra 25-minute drive or so to check out Narrowsburg and Callicoon, both of which I was told were becoming "artists' colonies." After visiting both, I was very disappointed. I had expected each of these communities to mimic Honesdale, Jim Thorpe, Saratoga Springs, Ithaca, and other well-known, culturally-vibrant, medium-sized communities. Instead, due to my own lack of research, I ended up in two towns that perhaps had a dozen businesses each. I had expected to see two towns littered with Mini Coopers, Honda Elements, PT Cruisers, Scion xBs, hippies, hemp, liberal activists, and art galleries, while I found perhaps one of each all day on my journey. Instead, I came across mostly pick-up trucks and people who would slow down and stare at me as I walked down side streets, as if they were somehow alarmed or confused by the presence of a tourist. For what it's worth though, every person I came across returned my greeting of "Good morning," which is what I use as a "friendliness" gauge when visiting a town for the first time.

While I was greatly-disappointed with my visits to each overhyped town, I must admit that I would love to live in either community. Narrowsburg had a neat mill tower that dominated the skyline, and Callicoon had some awesome run-down buildings in its downtown that intrigued my curiosity rather than discouraged it. Route 97 between the two towns was smooth and freshly-paved, and it was listed as a "Scenic Byway" for a reason---the drive was absolutely gorgeous!

On the way home I treated myself to exploring the beautiful agricultural backroads of Northern Wayne County, PA, which I also photographed. Enjoy!

(PHOTOS TO BE CONTINUED BELOW)

[SteelCityRising]

Welcome to beautiful Narrowsburg, New York!



Some scenes of the Delaware River as it passes by the community.


A memorial gazebo on a bluff overlooking the river that honors fallen veterans.


The bridge that links Narrowsburg to PA.


I found this series of stone walls near the gazebo area to be particularly attractive.




Main Street




A pair of images I snapped of a serene pond wedged between Grove Street and aptly-named "Lake" Street.


Narrowsburg United Methodist Church, Lake Street


The Village Pub


The Yard Sale Store


The large mill that dominates the town's skyline.



A pair of dwellings along Bridge Street.


Narrowsburg Town Hall


Narrowsburg Fire Department


Narrowsburg School


Narrowsburg Inn


Looking down Kirk Road towards Glenn Cove Cemetery. It was at this road's intersection with Bridge Street where I narrowly-missed being hit by a car as I unintentionally wandered into its path. Talk about being a clutz! LOL!


St. Francis Xavier Church, Bridge Street


St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Erie Avenue





Some scenes from along Erie Avenue.


I found these signs littering front lawns and roadsides throughout the region. I have yet to investigate the matter, but I'd suspect it is the same controversy surrounding plans to construct high-tension power lines across PA and Upstate NY to help power NYC. In my humble opinion, why should hundreds of miles of pristine woodlands be destroyed to bring power to NYC from other areas when there are plenty of brownfield sites closer to the city that could be redeveloped to house a new power plant?


Another view of that impressive mill.


The headquarters of the River Reporter newspaper.

(PHOTOS TO BE CONTINUED BELOW)

[SteelCityRising]

Entering Callicoon from the south.






I personally think that Callicoon's run-down appearance adds to its charm and quaint appeal.


Western Hotel


A neat-looking residential structure next-door to the town's post office.




Main Street


Antique Center of Callicoon


Callicoon Theater


The old railroad tracks


Looking towards downtown from the hill.


A nice older home at the intersection of Highview Avenue and Route 97.



Delaware River as it passes by Callicoon

(PHOTOS TO BE CONTINUED BELOW)

[SteelCityRising]

Here are a few shots I took of the beautiful countryside of Northern Wayne County, Pennsylvania.














I hope you enjoyed the photos!

[BovinaCowHateWindTurbines]

Awesome! - just the thing people need is a nice visual of towns and you did a great job I like Callicoon but looks different guess its been a while...

thanks

[skijmpr]

Nice tour. I haven't been to some of these towns in many years. Maybe in the spring or summer I'll try to make it up to some other parts of Northern Wayne near where I grew up to take some pictures.

By the way, your intuition about the "No Power Lines" sign was correct. One of the earlier pictures even had a mock scale model of a transmission tower with a "no" symbol on it sitting on someone's front lawn. This has been a huge deal for many towns in upstate NY, including ones not along the Delaware, but the impact to the ones along the river is amplified by the fact that the aesthetics of a precious natural habitat could be ruined if extremely large (read: tall) transmission towers are run close to the river, which from my last read of the planned routes was a distinct possibility.

For more info on the groups trying to fight this see the mother source here:
http://www.stopnyri.com/

p.s. I can't seem to get the [url] vBcode to work on that link. Any suggestions?

[NJbear]

Yes, fortunately both towns have remained functional rural towns with just a bit of culture, just a fraction of the size of those other places you mention (although Honesdale is not too bad in terms of size or in terms of being a "socially and economically functional" vs. "tourist" town); rather than being overrun with sprawl or made over into a tacky caricature of themselves to fit some urbanites' idea of what they "should" be.

Good job with the photos showing this, even if you personally were disappointed not to find them more urbanized, yuppified, or tack-ified.

[VA Yankee]

Great pictures! Thanks

[Dreamshot]

Nice pictures! I always wonder where the people that live in these communities work -- they are so isolated, out in the middle of no where. I imagine much of the population is older and retired...