Revolution to revolution

Sullivan architectural tour expanded

By FRITZ MAYER

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — The Architectural Bus Tour normally takes place in April. But this year, the Sullivan County Bicentennial Committee asked the Liberty Museum, which sponsors the trip, to hold it in the middle of summer, specifically on Sunday, July 19.

Architect Robert Dadras, who is the president of the board of the museum and one of the guides on the tour, said this is a good opportunity for people who are not in the county in April to experience the trip. He added that this is a one-shot deal, because pulling it off in July, when so much else is happening, is difficult.

The extent of the tour this year is also a one-of-a-kind phenomenon. Normally, the tour focuses on one period of the county’s past, said Dadras, “such as the Delaware River, the D & H Canal, the railroads, the early hotels, the late hotels, all based on different periods of time.” This year, however, the tour is going to touch on a full 200-year period of the county’s history from 1769, 10 years before the Battle of Minisink and the Revolutionary War, to 1969 and the social revolution that was epitomized by the Woodstock festival.

Dadras said, “Sullivan County is one of the few places that had a very early American defining moment and another latter 20th century defining moment.”

This will be the 14th year that the tour has taken place, and this is, by far, the most ambitious. Normally, the tour runs about 30 miles. This year, the trip, which will be run twice, is 65 miles long.

“We’ll start in Liberty and go all the way to Barryville, looking at all the communities in between,” he said. “Then, we’ll weave our way back on small roads through Cochecton Center past Bethel Woods and, ultimately, back to Liberty.” There will be a catered reception along the way. He added that unlike other tours, this one will not be repeated in future years because it’s too demanding.

What remains the same as in past tours is the combination of Dadras and county historian John Conway detailing the history of the area. In discussing particular buildings, Dadras said, “I talk about the architecture, the style, why it was built and the architect who built it, if we know. Conway talks about the people who had it built, what was going on at the time and what led up to it. So it’s not just some kind of graduate school architecture thing.” Also adding commentary this year is Liberty preservationist Walter Keller.

Sullivan County is rich with history, which is still unfolding. In an introduction to the “Revolution to Revolution: Sullivan County Bicentennial Exhibit” on the Liberty Museum’s website, Conway writes, “Sullivan County is still in a state of flux, still evolving. The area is a virtual salad bowl, in which the individual ethnic groups are able to blend together while still maintaining their identities, each adding a new flavor to the mix.”

For more information go to www.liberty museum.com or call 845/292-2394.