Local History Resources at the Pearl River Public Library: Rockland County Local History Resources
Lists of reference and circulating materials in the PRPL collection relating to Rockland County, Orangetown and Pearl River history as well as other RC locations. Links to other resources in other libraries and on the Internet.
Rockland County Items to Check Out
The Column Rule: Rockland People, Rockland Places by
This book contains 100 selected essays that Arthur Gunther, editorial page editor of the "Journal News" (Rockland County, NY) has written in the past 25 years. Each contains reflections on Rockland County life, including the author's own experiences with people who have made it interesting and places that are memorable. [ISBN]
Call Number: 974.72 GUN Also in DESK REFISBN: 9780911183528Publication Date: 2006-12-01- Historical miscellanies byCall Number: 974.728 BUD Copies also in REFPublication Date: 1928, c1923. 2v.Rockland County (N.Y.) -- History. Orange County (N.Y.) -- History.
- How things began--in Rockland County and places nearby : people, customs, language, and manners of living during the early times in a border county of New York State byCall Number: 974.72803 TAL Copy also in REFPublication Date: Historical Society of Rockland County, 1977.
Lost Towns of the Hudson Valley by
This is the story of five towns located in New York's Hudson River Valley that met their demise as quickly as they were established. From the icehouses of Rockland Lake to the Ashokan Reservoir towns to the brick quarries of Roseton, only traces of these once vibrant settlements can now be found. Camp Shanks, one of World War II's most significant military compounds, was erected in 1942 but was quickly abandoned at the war's end. [ISBN]
Call Number: 974.3 GOTISBN: 9781596297418Publication Date: 2009- Now and then and long ago in Rockland County, New York by This history of Rockland County New York was compiled by Cornelia Bedell and privately printed in 1941. Chapters include: Part I Geography and Natural History; Part II Indian Lore; Part III Colonial Days; Part IV Revolutionary Period; Part V Early Days of Republic; Part VI Post Civil War; Part VII Industries; Part VIII Villages; Part IX Appendix.Call Number: 974.728 BED Also in DESK REF and REFPublication Date: 1941, 1968
- The Political History of Rockland County, N. Y. : from its erection in 1798 through 1908Call Number: 974.74728 BEN Copy also in REFPublication Date: New City, N. Y. : Rockland County Public Librarians Assoc., 1970.
- Rockland County century of history byCall Number: 974.7 ROC Copy also in DESK REFISBN: 9780911183481Publication Date: 2002[ISBN]
- Rockland County During the American Revolution 1776-1781 byCall Number: 974.728 BUD Copy also in REF.Publication Date: 1976
- Rockland County in Old Prints 1750-1900 byCall Number: 974.728 DIEPublication Date: Nyack, NY : The Edward Hopper Landmark Preservation Foundation, 1986
- Rockland County, New York in the 1790s byCall Number: 974.72803 HALISBN: 0911183426Publication Date: Historical Society of Rockland County, 1997.
Rockland County Scrapbook by
The author of "Rockland County, Century of History: 1900-2000" now takes a fascinating look at 300 years of Rockland County, New York history with an emphasis on American Indians, Dutch settlers, the Revolutionary War and the dramatic changes in the nineteenth century that shaped the present county. Written in a lively style, and illustrated with many original photographs. [ISBN]
Call Number: 974.71 ZIM Also in DESK REFISBN: 0971232644Publication Date: 2004-05-01
References Books to Use in the Library
Some of these titles may also have circulating copies to checkout or be available through ILL from other libraries.
- Gleanings from Rockland History AND More Gleanings from Rockland History byCall Number: (Check catalog for RCLS copies.)Reprinted from South of the Mountains, journal of the Historical Society of RC.
- A Glimpse of Rockland County, 1957Call Number: DESK R 974.74728 LEAPublication Date: League of Women Voters, 1957
- Historic Rockland County and the 350th Hudson-Champlain anniversary celebration, 1609-1959. Rockland County (N.Y.) -- History. Hudson River (N.Y. and N.J.) -- History. Champlain, Lake -- History.Call Number: DESK R 974.728 HISPublication Date: [1959?]
- Historical record to the close of the nineteenth century of Rockland County, New York ... byCall Number: DESK 974.728 TOMPublication Date: 1902
- The history of Rockland County. byCall Number: R 974.74728 GRE Copy also in DESK REFPublication Date: New York : A. S. Barnes & Co., 1886.
- The history of Rockland County. byCall Number: R 974.74728 HAE Copy also in DESK REFPublication Date: Nyack, NY : Nyack Library, c1964.
- Let school bells ring; a history of schools in Rockland County, NY. byCall Number: DESK R 974.728Publication Date: Ramapo Graphics, 1978
New York's Palisades Interstate Park by
For over 100 years, the Palisades Interstate Park has provided a haven for citizens of the New York metropolitan area. The park system was originally formed to prevent quarries from desecrating the majestic lower Palisades cliffs. Few of the founders could have envisioned the growth of the parks, as land purchases multiplied northward up the Hudson River Valley. Now with over 100,000 unspoiled acres, the parks offer myriad outdoor recreational activities and historic sites that attract more visitors than many major national parks. [ISBN]
Call Number: R 974.73 GOTISBN: 9780738554983Publication Date: 2007- Pre-revolutionary Dutch houses and families in northern New Jersey and southern New York byCall Number: R 917.47 BAIPublication Date: 1936 & 1968
- Revolutionary War soldiers, Rockland County, N.Y.Call Number: (Check catalog for RCLS copies.)Publication Date: Spring Valley, N.Y. : Shatemuc Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1976.
- Rockland County during the postwar years of the American Revolution, 1782-1783 byCall Number: DESK R 974.728 BUDPublication Date: New City, NY : Rockland county Historical Assn., 1972.
- Rockland in print by Rockland County (N.Y.) -- History. -- Bibliography. Rockland County (N.Y.) -- Genealogy. -- Bibliography. Rockland County (N.Y.) -- History. -- Sources -- Bibliography.Call Number: R 974.728 ROC Copy also in DESK REFPublication Date: LARC, 1997
The Tappan Zee Bridge and the Forging of the Rockland Suburb by Call Number: R 974.973 PANISBN: 9780911183153Publication Date: 2010[ISBN]
Other RCLS Titles
- Bicentennial gleanings from Rockland history byPublication Date: [1976]Reprinted from South of the Mountains, journal of the Historical Society of Rockland County.
- The first hundred years of Spring Valley; written in commemoration of the Spring Valley Centennial, 1842-1942. byPublication Date: Tallman, N.Y., Social Science Research Foundation [c1944]
- Love makes the difference : reflections on life in Rockland County by Mary Bianchini, an immigrant who arrived at Ellis Island as a young child with her Mother, grew up to be honored by four Presidents and at the age of 93 the Congress. Mary shares her views about life, family, education, and community. [ISBN]ISBN: 9780965961509Publication Date: 1998
Local Newspaper Historical Searching
- The Journal News Obituary Search While this obituary search site only goes back as far as 1999, it does offer a quick and easy way to locate an obituary in The Journal News over that time frame.
HRVH includes:
Journal News (1 August 1932 - 14 July 1945)
Orangetown Telegram and The Pearl River Searchlight (5 January 1940 - 27 June 1963)
OurTown (31 October 1973 - 22 December 1982)
Pearl River News (15 January 1923 - 25 December 1936)
Internet Resources
- New York Heritage Provides online access to historical materials from New York State's Hudson River Valley including digitized photographs and other materials from the Pearl River Public Library in the Library Association of Rockland County Collections.
- HRVH Historical Newspapers The vision for HRVH Historical Newspapers is to provide access to digitized copies of historical newspapers from the Hudson River Valley region of NYS. Each newspaper included will have its own page with information about the publication, including the date range that is available online and information about the history of the newspaper.
Books on R.C. Townships and towns outside Orangetown
Some of these titles may be reference materials for in-house use and others may have circulating copies to checkout or be available through ILL from other libraries.
- So that all may be remembered: Volume 1, Clarkstown, Rockland County byCall Number: DESK R 974.728 KREPublication Date: New City, NY : Clarkstown Bicentennial Commission, 1989.Subject Term: Cemeteries -- New York (State) -- Rockland County.
- Celebrate Clarkstown, 1791-1991. byCall Number: R 974.728 CEL Copy also at 974.728 CELPublication Date: New City, NY : 1991.
- Doodletown : hiking through history in a vanished hamlet on the Hudson byCall Number: R 974.728 STAISBN: 0965573702Publication Date: 1997
- Nanuet's heritage: a history of Nanuet. byCall Number: R 974.728 HOOPublication Date: Nanuet, N.Y. : 1977
- Life at the Clarkstown Country Club, Nyack, N.Y. : a place where the philosopher may dance, and the fool be provided with a thinking cap!Call Number: R 974.728 LIFPublication Date: 1935
The Ramapo Mountain People by
In this book, the professor shows how the Ramapo mountain people lived. Also how their racially mixed ancestry, their special family and kinship system, and their intergroup attitudes and folkways distinguish and socially isolate these people as a separate racial group today. [ISBN]
Call Number: 974.728 COHISBN: 9780813507682Publication Date: 1974
Suffern [Images of America Series] by
Suffern, incorporated in 1896, is the gateway to the Ramapo Pass. Thirty miles from New York City, the village is at the confluence of several major interstate highways and the Ramapo River. By the 1840s, this rural farming community was transformed with the arrival of the Erie Railroad. Trainmen, tradesmen, ironworkers, and businessmen all found Suffern to be an ideal location for their modest homes. The region quickly gained a reputation as a pleasant summer resort and with that came the influx of wealthy New Yorkers who built summer estates. A thriving business district developed around the rail depot, and an official village government was established. [ISBN]
Call Number: 974.728 LONISBN: 9780738573519Publication Date: Arcadia Publishing, 2011
