The Tri-State area is proud of its rural roots and recognizes the importance of its past history. There are a number of museums, historical societies, parks and organizations throughout the region that are preserving our heritage. Each of the major events that have played a role in the region’s history are preserved at historic sights.

While driving along the many country roads in the area it is easy to imagine what the region was like when Native Americans found their way here more than 10,000 years ago. Beautiful river bottom land for agriculture, abundant game and a peaceful setting all provided a home for the indigenous peoples that were here until about 300 years ago. It has been over 300 years since European settlers first came to the Delaware River Valley and their heritage is found everywhere.

The area was easily accessible, first by road, then river and canal and finally by rail. The many roads that crisscross the area are remnants of older roads that lead to the western frontier.

The first 100-mile road in America is said to be the Old Mine Road, now New York State Route 209, and Sussex County Route 517 in New Jersey. Tradition has it that it was originally constructed by early Dutch explorers who were in the area looking for minerals that might be sent back to Holland.

As vast tracts of land were developed by the settlers moving into the area, boundaries that were not well defined became a major problem between the colonies of New York and New Jersey. In the mid-1700"s a border war broke out and was not settled until a royal commission determined the final line.

The Tri-State region served as America"s first frontier and was strategically important during the French and Indian Wars and later the American War for Independence. This accounts for the series of forts that are found along the Delaware River. There were two raids into the region during the American Revolution in 1778 and 1779 by British and Mohawk Indian units resulting in the famous Battle of Minisink which was fought at Minisink Ford, New York.

As the number of settlers increased, the Delaware River became a convenient mode of transportation and was used by the growing lumber industry. From the 1700"s until after 1900, the river was used to transport vast rafts of logs to the Philadelphia market.

It was the construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the building of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, which was to have the greatest impact on the region.

It was the farsighted thinking of Maurice and William Wurts, which began the construction of a canal and gravity railroad system that crossed 171 miles in the mid-1820"s that would eventually attain national significance. Construction began on a narrow ditch of water that would travel 108 miles over extremely treacherous terrain connecting the coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania with Kingston, New York on the Hudson River. The canal operated until 1898, shipping millions of tons of coal and employing thousands of people.

Then in the 1840's, construction of the network of railroads that would crisscross the Tri-State region revolutionized transportation. Most notable was the mighty Erie Railroad, which soon had its mainline crossing Orange and Pike Counties. Soon after the Erie made its way into the area, smaller branches were built.

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