A BRIEF HISTORY OF DOODLETOWN 

  Doodletown, a village in a beautiful mountain valley, was first settled in 1762 by the June family. There are two theories as to how it got its name. One is that the Dutch words dead del mean in part, dead valley, as a result from a fire. The other more romantic notion states that during the Revolutionary War the British troops marched through the town en route to engage the Colonists at American forts in the north. They sang Yankee “Doodle” as they marched through. 

  Early life for the residents was difficult yet they prospered. They found employment logging, mining, at various businesses on Iona Island, West Point, and later the Park. Some had small dairy farms. Slowly the town grew. 

  At its peak in the late 1920’s the town had a new larger school, a church, several small businesses, 4 roads, 2 cemeteries and approximately 70 homes. Many families like the June’s and Herbert’s had now lived there for generations. 

  Starting circa 1920 and throughout the following decades, the Park began to expand its borders by slowly purchasing the towns property. In 1962 the Park planned to build a ski resort where the town was located. The residents were to be bought out. Some were actually happy or relieved to be able to sell. Homeowners were previously unable to secure home improvement loans or sell their properties as the towns demise seemed inevitable. Others were not happy and resisted. The State threatened to condemn their properties by eminent domain. In April of 1965 the last Doodletown residents moved out. This included the June family, whose members had lived there continuously since 1762. Ironically, the ski resort was never built. 

  During the next few years the buildings were demolished, often by Park employees who had lived there. {That must have been strange!} The debris was then buried. The town has been left to revert to its natural state, wild and largely overgrown. However, one can still see countless reminders that a viable town did in fact exist and thrive there. Currently the Park does maintain the trails and Daytrips performs volunteer stewardship projects. It is a beautiful and unique place to walk! 

The entrance to Doodletown is located on Route 9W just a few yards south of the southern entrance to Bear Mountain State Park. A sign on the west side of the road designates where the trail starts. The trail is actually an old road. Park in the dirt cut outs. 

Daytrips offers free guided tours of the hamlet. For more information, click next.

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