Hometown HORTICULTURE

Catskill, a village of just over 4,000 people in rural New York’s Greene County, was founded in 1806. Thanks to the village’s location at the confluence of the Catskill Creek and the Hudson River, local industries in the 1800s and early 1900s included boat making, brick making and milling. These industries have long left Catskill, and like other upstate towns the village has struggled to find its identity and keep historic colonial infrastructure intact.

With the surge of urbanites into the southern Hudson Valley spurring a sharp rise in property values, people are venturing further north for affordable housing. Now many of Catskill’s once vacant Main Street storefronts are occupied with coffee bars and restaurants. HiLo, New York Restaurant, Mediterranean Bistro and La Conca D’oro are favorite eating places. Boutique shops Magpie Bookshop, Pistil Whip Floral Designs, Village Common Mercantile, Mahalo and Open/).