Background
It might be useful to understand New York's Administrative Divisions <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_New_York_(state) New York's Administrative Divisions]</ref>. The State of New York divides the state into 62 counties each of which has a county government which provides services to residents. Within each county, the state designates a number of incorporated cities, towns or townships which have municipal governments that provide services to residents. Towns may have a number of incorporated villages, some named the same as the town they are part of. Villages also have their own village government that provides services to residents. Also within towns, there may be a number of hamlets which are unincorporated areas without a governing body. Hamlets do not have governing bodies and do not provide services to residents.
Understanding this administrative structure makes it easier to find local information useful to historic and genealogical research. Records of various kinds may be held in any of the governing administrative units. All of these units operate under state laws and regulations but, on a practical basis, there is considerable independence among the various units. What a village, town or county clerk can provide depends on the history, size and economics of any of these units. The services and record keeping of any of these units can change over time. Making contact with each level of local government may be useful in research.
Many towns in the state of New York have villages of the same name; for instance, the Towns of Delhi and Walton, NY, each have villages of the same names. This is not true of Rockland; there is only one incorporated village in the Town of Rockland; that is Roscoe; there is no village of Rockland. The municipal offices of the Town of Rockland sit in the hamlet of Livingston Manor.
For the purposes of this One-Place Study of Rockland, New York, in Sullivan County, there are a number of hamlets and one village within the Town of Rockland that will be important; these each have their own pages, listed on the right here and their histories researched.
History
"A bill to take Rockland from Neversink, was introduced in the Legislature of 1809, and was made a law on the 29th of March of that year. It provided that the new town should have an existence on the first day of April, 1810, and that its first meeting should be at the house of Isaac Worden. In the act, the original bounds of the town are thus given : Beginning on the division of Great Lots 4 and 5, and on the division of John E. Livingston, and Robert R. Livingston, in the Hardenbergh patent, and running from thence south twenty-three degrees west to the town of Liberty ; thence along the northeast bounds thereof to the county of Delaware ; thence along said county easterly until it intersects the division-line of Great Lots 5 and 6 ; and thence south-easterly along said division-line so far that a course of south twenty-three degrees west will strike the place of beginning.
Rockland is bounded on the north-west by Delaware county ; north-easterly by Ulster ; eastwardly by Neversink, and southwesterly by Liberty, Callicoon and Fremont. A considerable portion of its area is too broken and rough for cultivation, particularly its highlands ; while its river-bottoms and the lowlands along its streams are fertile and easily cultivated. Those who gave it its name were honest when they pronounced it rock or rocky land ; but the name was an unfortunate one, because it caused settlers to avoid it, when they could have found within its borders much that was desirable.
No town in the county is noted for more rivers and creeks than Rockland. The Beaverkill is found in the north-west section of the town ; while the Williwemoc crosses it from east to west. The latter has numerous tributaries, several of which are of considerable magnitude, and it affords scenery which is highly appreciated by people of culture and fine taste. For many years, these streams have been favorite resorts of artiste and men of wealth and refinement, who find an attraction in pure water, invigorating air, and the charms of wild and uncultivated mountains and valleys.
There are in Rockland no less than fifteen lakes and ponds. These vary in size from a few acres to several hundred. A description of them would weary the reader. Among them are Upper, Mongaup and Hodge ponds in the eastern section of the town ; Big and North ponds in the south-eastern ; Shaw in the southern ; Burnt Hill and Jenkins in the western ; and Sand, Mud and Knapp ponds in the central.
Until a few years ago, north of the town there was an unbroken wilderness which was of such extent that it required a day to pass across it. This immense forest was occupied by wild beasts only, and was the favorite hunting-ground of hardy and adventurous Nimrods. Perhaps more wolves, bears, panthers and deer have been killed by residents of Rockland during the last forty years, than in all the other towns of the county. We shall give on future pages the adventures of some of the hunters of Rockland." History of Sullivan County @ Internet Archive, pages 490-491}
First Settlers
"It is difficult to decide who was the pioneer of this town. Several families came in during the spring and summer of 1789, and the descendants of each claim that their ancestor was the first white inhabitant. Our sources of information may be limited; yet from all the premises we are inclined to award the honor to Jehiel Stewart and his family, and his brother Luther.
At the close of the Revolutionary war, Jehiel Stewart was living in Middletown, Connecticut. In 1788, he removed with his family to Wawarsing, Ulster county. He remained there about a year, and then, in company with Luther, went to Rockland, which was at that time in the old town of Rochester." History of Sullivan County @ Internet Archive, page 492.
More on their early story can be found at the reference above.
Geography
" Continent: -- North America
Country: -- United States of America
State/Province: -- New York
County: -- Sullivan
GPS Coordinates: -- 41.945278, -74.913056
Elevation: -- 394.0 m or 1292.7 feet
Rockland is the northern most town in Sullivan County, New York." Rockland, NY @ Wikipedia.
The boundaries that divide us are rarely neat and tidy. To the east of Rockland is the Town of Neversink; to the south are The Towns of Liberty, Callicoon and Fremont; to the west is the County line for Delaware County and the Town of Colchester; to the north is the Ulster County border and the Town of Hardenbergh.
The Town of Rockland is enhanced by the topography, flora and fauna of the lower Catskill Mountains and the basins of Willowemoc and Beaver Kill Creeks. You can see from the map that many of the roads are alongside brooks and streams and that the landscape is dotted with ponds of varying sizes.
It's a hilly, rocky, forested, rural landscape colored in hues of green in Spring and Summer and reds, oranges and yellows in Autumn and blanketed with snow in the Winter. The woodlands are mixed deciduous and evergreen forests.
Population
The 2020 population was 3,290. from Wikipedia.
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