Port Jervis, Monticello and New York Railroad Co. - Stock Certificate

Unissued Railroad Stock printed by New York Bank Note Co. Great vignette of train passing by men resting at tree. Cut cancel with no paper loss but tape as usual. Very nice engraved stock. Rare! Please specify color.

Port Jervis is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, United States, north of the Delaware Water Gap. Its population was 8,828 at the 2010 census. The communities of Deerpark, Huguenot, Sparrowbush, and Greenville are adjacent to Port Jervis. Matamoras, Pennsylvania, is across the river and connected by bridge. Montague Township, New Jersey, borders here.

Port Jervis was part of early industrial history, a point for shipping coal to major markets to the southeast by canal and later by railroads. Its residents had long-distance passenger service by railroad until 1970. The restructuring of railroads resulted in a decline in the city's business and economy.

In the 21st century, from late spring to early fall, many thousands of travelers and tourists pass through Port Jervis on their way to enjoying rafting, kayaking, canoeing and other activities in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and the surrounding area.

Port Jervis is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area as well as the larger New York metropolitan area. In August 2008, Port Jervis was named one of "Ten Coolest Small Towns" by Budget Travel magazine.

The first fully developed European settlement in the area was established by Dutch and English colonists c.1690, and a land grant of 1,200 acres (490 ha) was formalized on October 14, 1697. The settlement was originally known as Mahackamack, after a Lenape word. It was raided and burned in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War, by British and Mohawk forces under the command of Mohawk leader Joseph Brant before the Battle of Minisink. Over the next two decades, residents rebuilt the settlement. They developed more roadways to better connect Mahackamack with the eastern parts of Orange County.

After the Delaware and Hudson Canal was opened in 1828, providing transportation of coal from northeastern Pennsylvania to New York and New England via the Hudson River, trade attracted money and further development to the area. A village was incorporated in 1853. It was renamed as Port Jervis in the mid-19th century, after John Bloomfield Jervis, chief engineer of the D&H Canal. Port Jervis grew steadily into the 1900s, and on July 26, 1907, it became a city.

The first rail line to run through Port Jervis was the New York & Erie Railroad, which in 1832 was chartered to run from Piermont, New York, on the Hudson River in Rockland County, to Lake Erie. Ground was broken in 1835, but construction was delayed by a nationwide financial panic, and did not start again until 1838. The line was completed in 1851, and the first passenger train – with President Millard Fillmore and former United States Senator Daniel Webster on board – came through the city on May 14. The railroad went through a number of name changes, becoming the Erie Railroad in 1897.

A second railroad, the Port Jervis and Monticello Railroad, later leased to the New York, Ontario and Western Railway (O&W), opened in 1868, running north out of the city, and eventually connecting to Kingston, New York, Weehawken, New Jersey and western connections.

Like the D&H Canal, the railroads brought new prosperity to Port Jervis in the form of increased trade and investment in the community from the outside. However, the competition by the railroad, which could deliver products faster, hastened the decline of the canal, which ceased operation in 1898. The railroads were the basis of the city's economy for the coming decades. Port Jervis became Erie's division center between Jersey City, New Jersey and Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, and by 1922, twenty passenger trains went through the city every day. More than 2,500 Erie RR employees made their homes there.

The railroads began to decline after the Great Depression. A shift in transportation accelerated after World War II with the federal subsidy of the Interstate Highway System and increased competition from trucking companies. One of the first Class I railroads to shut down was the O&W, in 1957, leaving Port Jervis totally reliant on the Erie. A few years later, in 1960, the Erie, also on a shaky financial footing, merged with Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad to become the Erie Lackawanna. Railroad restructuring continued and in 1976, the Erie Lackawana became part of Conrail, along with a number of other struggling railroads, such as the Penn Central. Since the breakup of Conrail, the trackage around Port Jervis has been controlled by Norfolk Southern. The decline of the railroads was an economic blow to Port Jervis. The city has struggled to find a new economic basis.

Monticello (/ˌmɒntɪˈsɛloʊ/ MON-tih-SEL-oh) is a village located in Thompson, Sullivan County, within the Catskills region of New York, United States. The population was 6,726 at the 2010 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan County. The village was named after the residence of Thomas Jefferson.

The Village of Monticello is in the central part of Thompson, adjacent to New York Route 17. Monticello is one of the largest villages in the county.

On March 20, 1801, an act was passed authorizing the building of a new turnpike road from the Hudson River to the Delaware through what was then Ulster and Orange counties. There were two important reasons for this undertaking. One was to facilitate travel between Newburgh and the rich coalfields of Pennsylvania and the other was to provide a suitable passage for large droves of cattle and wood products taken from the virgin forests of Sullivan County. The proposed Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike ultimately brought about the founding of the village of Monticello.

Two brothers, Samuel F. Jones and John Patterson Jones, built Monticello. The turnpike company entrusted Samuel F. Jones to explore the vast forests west of the Mamakating valley to find the best route for the new turnpike. While so engaged, Jones foresaw that Ulster County would undergo many changes and growth when the new turnpike was completed, He also realized that because of this growth a new county would ultimately be formed out of the southwestern part of the county. He predicted the county seat for this new county would be located along the new turnpike. Returning home, Samuel related his predictions and vision to his younger brother, John.

John joined his brother and in the early part of 1803, they bought two tracts of wilderness totaling 1,861 acres (8 km²) for which they paid $4,613. Since Samuel was occupied surveying the route for the new turnpike, it was left to John to start making immediate improvements to their land. John arrived later that year with eleven men, and after putting up a temporary shelter east of Monticello, they commenced working on a sawmill. The work halted when the brothers returned to their New Lebanon, Connecticut, home for the winter but resumed the following spring. John returned to his work on their lands in early April 1804, while Samuel continued working for the turnpike company. After John put the sawmill in operation, he started clearing and seeding the land west of Monticello. He also built a gristmill that was used mostly for grinding their grain.

The final route for the Cochecton-Newburgh Turnpike was determined that spring, and it was precisely where Samuel Jones wanted it. The brothers then determined where to build their intended city. It was at this time that the name Monticello was given to the planned village. The brothers were ardent admirers of Thomas Jefferson, who invented the word from two Latin words meaning "heavenly mountain", which Mr. Jefferson gave to his home place.

Before the log house was built in Monticello or the first tree cut, the brothers first surveyed their planned village, laying out broad streets and a central park. Trees were marked to indicate the lines. Consequently, Monticello became a town of wide streets, shade trees, and with a "public square." In addition, as Samuel Jones planned, the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike ran straight through the village.

Soon after the survey was completed, John Jones selected a lot for his residence, and on September 4, 1804, with his own hands, he felled the first tree that marked the site of his future home. The house was located on the turnpike (on the corner of Broadway and Saint. John's St) across from the park and was completed by December. John lived there until he died. Samuel was still involved with the turnpike, so John later built the first part of his brother's house. In 1807, Samuel built a large addition to his dwelling.

As an inducement to inhabit their village, the brothers offered 1-acre (4,000 m²) lots to anyone who would build and settle there. Advertisements were inserted into many newspapers of southern counties that enticed many to take advantage of their offer. One of these pioneers was Platt Pelton of Putnam County, a tanner by trade, who came to Monticello in 1804. He built a sawmill and a temporary shanty. The following year erected the second house in Monticello. In 1805, John P. Jones built a blacksmith shop and Miles Curtis put up a house. Sometime that summer Curtis Lindsley commenced building a hotel, where later the county court would be held until a courthouse was built.

On March 27, 1809, by an act of the Legislature, Sullivan County was created from part of Ulster. In June the new county government was organized and John P. Jones became the first County Clerk. He was later elected state senator and held several other public offices. Samuel F. Jones became one of the county's first judges and in 1811, when a postal route went into operation from Newburgh to Ithaca, New York, Samuel became Monticello's first postmaster.

David Hammond, who became an active businessman in the village, came to Monticello in 1805 or 1806. In 1811, he built the Mansion House. Eli Fairchild came to Monticello in 1815. He built the first iron foundry on Main St. and a gristmill and sawmill on the Cold Spring Road. All his businesses were conducted successfully for many years. Ephraim Lyon Burnham came to Monticello about this time and established a large tannery, which was later owned by Strong, Starr and Company.

By 1813, there were twenty houses in Monticello as well as various places of business. The village was incorporated on April 20, 1830.

On 13 January 1844, a great fire swept the county seat destroying, with other structures, the county's buildings.

On 14 August 1862, Mr. John C. Holley received authority to recruit a regiment in Sullivan County, which was organized at Monticello, with David P. DeWitt as Colonel, and there mustered in the service of the United States for three years October 8, 1862. The companies were recruited principally in: A at Monticello, Fremont, Bethel, Rockland, Forestburg, Liberty and Beaver Kill; B at Bethel, Thompson, Fallsburg, Forestburg and Stormville; C at Fallsburg, Rockland, Grahamville and Neversink; D at Ithaca and Lansing; E at Wurtsborough, Bridgeville, Monticello and Phillipsport; F at Fremont, Callicoon, Jeffersonville, Rockland and Monticello; G at Fremont, Bloomingburg, Neversink, Monticello, Thompson, Cochecton and Tusten; H at Liberty, Monticello and Rockland; I at Dryden and Cochecton; K at Cochecton, Monticello, Tusten, Callicoon, Highland and Thompson.

The regiment left the state October 14, 1862; it served in the defenses of Washington in the 3rd Brigade, Abercrombie's Division, from October 16, 1862; in 3rd, Hughston's, Brigade, Gurney's Division, Department of Virginia, at Suffolk, Virginia, from April 1863; in the 1st Brigade, Gordon's Division, of 7th Corps, from May, 1863; of 4th Corps, from June, 1863; in the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 11th Corps, from July 14, 1863; in the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Corps, from April, 1864; in the 2d Brigade, Bartlett's Division, 22d Corps, from June 30, 1865; and, under Col. Horace Boughton, it was honorably discharged and mustered out July 20, 1865, at and near Washington, D.C.

During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 3 officers, 13 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 2 officers, 25 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 1 officer, 177 enlisted men; total, 6 officers, 215 enlisted men; aggregate, 221; of whom 3 enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy; the large loss by accident (9), was principally caused by a railroad accident on March 20, 1863.

Even though the village grew a great deal from the turnpike, the village was not as fortunate with the railroad. Although one survey for the Erie Railroad went to Monticello when the final route was determined it did not go near the village. Later when the Midland Railroad (later the O & W) was built through Sullivan County, it too missed Monticello by going through Fallsburg five miles (8 km) away. A railroad line between Monticello and Port Jervis was launched in 1869 with the formal opening taking place on January 23, 1871. The name of the little railroad was changed several times before it was taken over by the New York O & W in 1903. The O & W ran the line until it went out of business in 1957.

On August 10, 1909, Monticello suffered its worse calamity in history when a fire wiped out most of the business section of the village. It was thought that the fire started from a large burned out smokestack belonging to the Murray power plant. The fire broke out on a Tuesday evening about 8:30 when the evening mail was arriving. The streets, stores and hotel porches were thronged with summer visitors when the alarm sounded. By the time the firemen responded and the hoses were laid the power house was roaring in flames. The fire quickly spread to the huge Palatine Casino, which was consumed in fire in a matter of seconds. A strong wind spread the fire from building to building and in less than an hour, both sides of the street were a fury of fire. When it was over forty buildings had been consumed along with a million dollars' worth of property. Fortunately, no lives were lost as hundreds of horrified people watched, powerless to save one hundred years of growth and industry. Monticello was quick to rebuild; replacing many of the wooden buildings with more fire-resistant ones made of brick. Replacing the trees that once lined Broadway would take a great deal longer.

Some pioneer hotels in the county were located in Monticello; the Mansion House and the Rockwell were important places during the Sullivan County resort era. There was a lot of summer activity and entertainment in Monticello. During the early 1900s, there was a Driving Park Association that held races in the village. In 1910 the "Lyceum", the largest theater in the county opened in Monticello. It was successful until 1922 when the moviegoers visited the Rialto Theater, the new showplace in town. The Monticello Amusement Park burned down in 1932. Monticello played host to the Sullivan County Fair for over fifty years until it closed in 1931. Although few of Monticello hotels successfully made the transition into the later resort age, the village continued to draw the tourists who stayed at nearby hotels and bungalow colonies.

A compact and generally run-down African-American district once stood on Wheeler and Young Streets in the village's west end. This neighborhood was demolished in the 1970s for construction of the Government Center.

In 2008 the widening of Broadway begins allowing space for a median with 45-degree parking, to the disappointment of many the once tree-lined street (Broadway) has been cut bare.

According to Grand Lodge records eight lodges have been established in Sullivan County. The earliest recorded lodge in Sullivan was Sullivan No. 272 which was warranted at Monticello, January 2, 1817. The first lodge founded in Sullivan County. In June 1835, the lodge was disbanded.

The Bennett Family House, Chevro Ahavath Zion Synagogue, Rialto Theater, and St. John's Episcopal Church and Rectory are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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