Mamakating, New York
Mamakating is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 12,085 at the 2010 census.
The Town of Mamakating is in the southeast part of the county.
History
The town of Mamakating was organized on March 7, 1788 and was the first township of Sullivan County. The first county seat was Bloomingburg; incorporated in 1833. According to historical records Johanis Hardenburgh, a resident of Kingston, N.Y., purchased a large tract of land known as the Hardenburgh Patent. This land and another patent known as the Minisink Patent were what is now most of Orange and Sullivan Counties. On December17th, 1743 a precinct was formed called Mamakating. Some say it was called Mamacotten. It included what is now all of Sullivan County but was still a part of Ulster County.
During the early and middle 18th century the construction of forts all along the Old Mine Road (today US 209) was necessary to protect the settlers from hostile Indians. There were three forts built in Mamakating. Fort Westbrookville was built in 1750 on what is now the Sullivan and Orange county border and until several years ago it was a restaurant. In 1757 a fort was built north of the village of Wurtsboro and it was called Fort Devans. A building was later added to make it larger and it is now owned by the operators of Wurtsboro Airport. Another fort was built on the east side of the Bloomingburgh Mountain. It was called Fort Roosa and was built in 1731. It is still standing and is considered the oldest building in Sullivan County. Many people traveling the old mine road from Kingston found land that was good for planting crops, plenty of game to hunt, streams filled with fish, and virgin trees to build homes. They decided that it was a good place to settle down and raise a family.
