The Last of the Handmade Dams tells the story of building New York City's first great Catskill Mountain Resevoir, largely built by pick-and-shovel work. It was a triumph of engineering but with profound consequences for more than 2,000 persons in the flooded Ashokan Valley. Elevem communites were razed for the mammoth project. 2,000 graves were disinterred and relocated. The story is told in all aspects: political, social, engineering. It tells of immigrant laborers and their problems, of the dislocations and the lore of the drowned valley all that remained as the waters rose.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"For resevoir-lovers (I wholeheartedly...among these) there's a bit of entertainment as well as an indepth education." -- Spider Barbour, Catskill Center News
About the Author
Bob Stueding teaches Humanities at Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge, New York. He is also State University of New York Faculty Exchange Scholar and serves as the Poet Laureate of Ulster County. Among his other books are two volumes of poetry, Ashokan and Winter Sun, a critical biography of the Pulitzer Prize poet Gary Snider, A Catskill Mountain Journal and Rondout: The Story of Hudson River Port.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New York State History, Done Well,
By The Mole "Mopar Lover" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Last of the Handmade Dams: The Story of the Ashokan Reservoir (Paperback)
This is a great book that tells the story of how the City of New York literally had an entire valley stripped clean to build a reservoir for drinking water. The Esopus River Valley in the Catskill Mountains, about 100 Miles north of New York City was chosen as the site for the reservoir.
A really easy read, this book explains all of the challenges the engineers and workers faced. Displacing entire towns, removing every living thing, and the graveyards too, is an amazing story! Historically accurate and filled with colorful stories, this book is really great for anyone interested in history.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book,
By "heavens_eyes" (New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Last of the Handmade Dams: The Story of the Ashokan Reservoir (Paperback)
The book was good. It is interesting to learn about the villages that were destroyed
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Open the Dam Road",
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Last of the Handmade Dams: The Story of the Ashokan Reservoir (Paperback)
The title of my review is a headline recently printed in a local newspaper. Fears of terrorism have caused the powers protecting the reservoir to close one of the roads around it. I enjoyed the book because of the background information, especially the politics of the building of the great reservoir. From one who sees the reservoir fairly often, it's a great story. The author manages to resurrect the drowned villages to the best of his ability. The book is a quick read. More!!!
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Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
THE INDIANS first called it Ashokan. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
main dam, dam site Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York City, Ashokan Reservoir, Esopus Creek, West Shokan, Board of Water Supply, Brown's Station, Ashokan Dam, Bishop's Falls, Hudson River, Waldo Smith, Catskill Water System, Ulster County, Catskill Mountains, Olive Bridge, Brodhead's Bridge, United States, Yale Quarry, Chief Engineer Smith, Esopus Valley, James Winston, New England, Ramapo Company, Comptroller Coler, Olive Branch, Sheriff Boice New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE INDIANS first called it Ashokan. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
main dam, dam site Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York City, Ashokan Reservoir, Esopus Creek, West Shokan, Board of Water Supply, Brown's Station, Ashokan Dam, Bishop's Falls, Hudson River, Waldo Smith, Catskill Water System, Ulster County, Catskill Mountains, Olive Bridge, Brodhead's Bridge, United States, Yale Quarry, Chief Engineer Smith, Esopus Valley, James Winston, New England, Ramapo Company, Comptroller Coler, Olive Branch, Sheriff Boice New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
3
books
cite this book:
- A Catskill Mountain Journal by Bob Steuding in Back Matter
- Our Catskill Mountains by H. A. Haring in Back Matter
- The Earth Around Us: Maintaining A Livable Planet by Jill Schneiderman on page 170, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Liquid Assets: A History of New York City's Water System by Diane Galusha in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Place You Love Is Gone: Progress Hits Home by Melissa Holbrook Pierson in Back Matter
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