New York State Route 17B
Encyclopedia
New York State Route 17B (NY 17B) is a state highway
located entirely within Sullivan County
, New York
. It connects the hamlet of Callicoon
at its western end with the Monticello
area in the east (ending at an interchange with NY 17
just to the north of Monticello).
(located within the town of Delaware
), NY 17B makes its way up out of the Delaware River
valley on a winding path, much like the other state roads in this thinly populated corner of New York. NY 52A, the first other state highway 17B encounters, leaves in a northerly direction five miles (8 km) from the start. Not too long afterward, NY 52
meets NY 17B and joins
it.
A half-mile afterwards, 52 continues its southward course to Narrowsburg
while 17B splits off to the east on a good, wide road that passes through mostly open farming country. Seven miles along, NY 55
comes in from the north to create another concurrency through White Lake
of 0.75 miles (1.21 km) before splitting off again, this time to Barryville
. After this minimally built-up junction that constitutes the center of White Lake, the vacation cottage
community of Smallwood
to the south of the road is responsible for increased traffic in the summertime.
17B continues eastward for another seven miles (11 km) before reaching Monticello Raceway
and its western end at NY 17 in Monticello
.
For most of the 20th century, the road was the major thoroughfare that each June took thousands of kids to the many sleepaway camps along the 17B corridor: Camp Ta-Go-La, Camp Kennybook, Camp Ma-Ho-Ge, Camp Chipinaw, Camp Ranger and the Wel-Met Camps, to name a few. It also took many more to and from the hotels and bungalow colonies such as The Esther Manor,owned by the Goldstein family (where singer Neil Sedaka
met his future wife,the daughter of the owners and launched his celebrity career and comedian Jackie Mason
got his start), and the Bradstan Country Hotel in White Lake.
. This accounts for the straight, wide route much more amenable to modern vehicular use than the other inland state highways in this half of the county.
NY 17B was assigned in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York to its current alignment between Monticello
and Callicoon
and to modern NY 97
from Callicoon to Hancock
. The Callicoon–Hancock portion of the route was co-designated as part of NY 97 in 1939 following the completion of that route south of Callicoon. The concurrency was eliminated in the mid-1960s when NY 17B was cut back to its current western terminus in Callicoon.
was held in one of local dairy
farmer Max Yasgur's alfalfa
fields at the junction of Hurd and West Shore roads just off the highway in the Town of Bethel
. Nearby sections of 17B between the site and Monticello became cluttered with abandoned vehicles as concertgoers raced to catch the three-day show.
Bethel now proudly refers to it on its signage welcoming visitors, and it has become its major attraction. Stores along 17B near the site sell relevant souvenir
s, such as tie-dye
d T-shirt
s and recordings by the artists who performed.
opened for business, giving the 17B corridor more activity than it had seen in 37 years as the New York Philharmonic
played the inaugural concert at the state-of-the-art music venue. And on August 13, 2006, some 16,000 fans attended Crosby Stills Nash & Young at Bethel Woods. Their encore song was appropriately, "Woodstock."
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
located entirely within Sullivan County
Sullivan County, New York
Sullivan County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 77,547. The county seat is Monticello. The name is in honor of Major General John Sullivan, who was a hero in the American Revolutionary War...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It connects the hamlet of Callicoon
Callicoon (CDP), New York
Callicoon is a hamlet and census-designated place in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 216 at the 2000 census.Callicoon is in the western part of the county in the Town of Delaware.-History:...
at its western end with the Monticello
Monticello, New York
Monticello is a village located in the Town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 6,512 at the 2000 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan County...
area in the east (ending at an interchange with NY 17
New York State Route 17
New York State Route 17 is a state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States...
just to the north of Monticello).
Route description
From its terminus at NY 97 in the hamlet of CallicoonCallicoon (CDP), New York
Callicoon is a hamlet and census-designated place in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 216 at the 2000 census.Callicoon is in the western part of the county in the Town of Delaware.-History:...
(located within the town of Delaware
Delaware, New York
Delaware is a town in Sullivan County, New York, USA. The population was 2,719 at the 2000 census.The Town of Delaware is in the western part of the county.-Geography:...
), NY 17B makes its way up out of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
valley on a winding path, much like the other state roads in this thinly populated corner of New York. NY 52A, the first other state highway 17B encounters, leaves in a northerly direction five miles (8 km) from the start. Not too long afterward, NY 52
New York State Route 52
New York State Route 52 is a long state highway in the southeastern part of New York in the United States. It generally runs from west to east, beginning at the Pennsylvania state line in the Delaware River near Narrowsburg, crossing the Hudson River on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and ending...
meets NY 17B and joins
Concurrency (road)
A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...
it.
Narrowsburg, New York
Narrowsburg is a hamlet in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 414 at the 2000 census.Narrowsburg is in the western part of the Town of Tusten at the junction of Routes 52 and 97...
while 17B splits off to the east on a good, wide road that passes through mostly open farming country. Seven miles along, NY 55
New York State Route 55
New York State Route 55 is a state highway in southern New York, running from the Pennsylvania state line at the Delaware River in Barryville to the Connecticut state line at Wingdale...
comes in from the north to create another concurrency through White Lake
White Lake, New York
White Lake is an unincorporated hamlet in the town of Bethel, Sullivan County, New York on the southeast shore of a lake of the same name. It was the closest community to the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969....
of 0.75 miles (1.21 km) before splitting off again, this time to Barryville
Barryville, New York
Barryville is a hamlet in Highland, Sullivan County, New York. It is named for William T. Barry, postmaster general under President Andrew Jackson. The community grew up around the D&H Canal, which opened in 1828 and operated until 1898...
. After this minimally built-up junction that constitutes the center of White Lake, the vacation cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
community of Smallwood
Smallwood, New York
Smallwood is a hamlet in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 566 at the 2000 census.Smallwood is in the southeast part of the Town of Bethel. It is a hamlet within the town of Bethel, originally founded as the vacation community "Mountain Lakes," but later renamed after...
to the south of the road is responsible for increased traffic in the summertime.
17B continues eastward for another seven miles (11 km) before reaching Monticello Raceway
Monticello Raceway
Monticello Gaming and Raceway is a harness racing track, and home to a relatively new racino, in Monticello, Sullivan County, New York. It is off Exit 104 of Route 17 , on New York State Route 17B....
and its western end at NY 17 in Monticello
Monticello, New York
Monticello is a village located in the Town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 6,512 at the 2000 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan County...
.
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
met his future wife,the daughter of the owners and launched his celebrity career and comedian Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason is an American stand-up comedian and movie actor.-Early life:Born Yacov Moshe Maza in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City....
got his start), and the Bradstan Country Hotel in White Lake.
History
Between Fosterdale and Monticello, 17B follows the route of the old Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike, elsewhere followed by the main NY 17 and, closer to Newburgh, NY 17KNew York State Route 17K
New York State Route 17K is an east–west state highway located within Orange County, New York, in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with County Route 76 east of Bloomingburg to a junction with U.S. Route 9W midway across the city of Newburgh...
. This accounts for the straight, wide route much more amenable to modern vehicular use than the other inland state highways in this half of the county.
NY 17B was assigned in the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York to its current alignment between Monticello
Monticello, New York
Monticello is a village located in the Town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 6,512 at the 2000 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan County...
and Callicoon
Callicoon (CDP), New York
Callicoon is a hamlet and census-designated place in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 216 at the 2000 census.Callicoon is in the western part of the county in the Town of Delaware.-History:...
and to modern NY 97
New York State Route 97
New York State Route 97 is a north–south scenic route in southern New York, United States. It runs from U.S. Route 6 and US 209 in Port Jervis to NY 17 in Hancock. Its most famous feature is the Hawk's Nest, a tightly winding section of the road along the Delaware River,...
from Callicoon to Hancock
Hancock (village), New York
Hancock is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 1,189 at the 2000 census.The Village of Hancock is in the west part of the Town of Hancock at the junction of NY Routes 17 and 97....
. The Callicoon–Hancock portion of the route was co-designated as part of NY 97 in 1939 following the completion of that route south of Callicoon. The concurrency was eliminated in the mid-1960s when NY 17B was cut back to its current western terminus in Callicoon.
Woodstock
The normally lightly trafficked road became the most-used in the state in the middle of August 1969, when the legendary Woodstock FestivalWoodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
was held in one of local dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
farmer Max Yasgur's alfalfa
Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...
fields at the junction of Hurd and West Shore roads just off the highway in the Town of Bethel
Bethel, New York
Bethel is a town in Sullivan County, New York, USA. The population has been estimated at 4,532 in 2007.The town received worldwide fame after it became the host of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, which was originally planned for Wallkill, New York, but was relocated to Bethel after Wallkill withdrew.-...
. Nearby sections of 17B between the site and Monticello became cluttered with abandoned vehicles as concertgoers raced to catch the three-day show.
Bethel now proudly refers to it on its signage welcoming visitors, and it has become its major attraction. Stores along 17B near the site sell relevant souvenir
Souvenir
A souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
s, such as tie-dye
Tie-dye
Tie-dye is a process of resist dyeing textiles or clothing which is made from knit or woven fabric, usually cotton; typically using bright colors. It is a modern version of traditional dyeing methods used in many cultures throughout the world. "Tie-dye" can also describe the resulting pattern or an...
d T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
s and recordings by the artists who performed.
Recent events
In July 2006, Bethel Woods Center for the ArtsBethel Woods Center for the Arts
The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit performing arts center and museum located at the site of the 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, New York which took place on a parcel of the original Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm....
opened for business, giving the 17B corridor more activity than it had seen in 37 years as the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
played the inaugural concert at the state-of-the-art music venue. And on August 13, 2006, some 16,000 fans attended Crosby Stills Nash & Young at Bethel Woods. Their encore song was appropriately, "Woodstock."