Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Transportation

Location

2233 Co Rd 23B, South Cairo, NY 12482, USA

Lat/Long

42.27265, -73.94891

Grant Recipient

Cairo Historical Society

South Cairo Depot opened nearby on July 28, 1882. This depot served as an important stop for passengers and freight traveling aboard the Catskill Mountain Railway. In the summer months it was quite common for New York City dwellers to escape the hustle and bustle for a quiet getaway at one of the many Catskill Mountain resorts in upstate New York. The Catskill Mountain Railway made these remote locations readily accessible for summer tourists. An August 13, 1882 article in The New York Times entitled “Up In The Mountain Tops”, described the Catskill Mountain railway and its effects on communities like South Cairo:

But, incomplete as it is, the new railroad is a great convenience. It has very handsome cars, some of them open ones, and passengers for this part of the Catskill region now come by rail to South Cairo, thus saving eight miles of tedious staging. South Cairo, which 10 years ago was a little hamlet so dead it was ready to be buried under the first mountain that rolled over, has taken a fresh start under the impetus of the railroad. It already contains as many as 15 or 20 houses and in time may rival New-York or Guttenberg in size and commercial importance.

While it may have been premature to state that South Cairo “in time may rival New-York or Guttenberg”, it can be argued that the Catskill Mountain Railway made a significant impact on the community’s  development. The South Cairo Depot continued to be utilized until the Catskill Mountain Railway ceased operation in May 1919.

While the Depot no longer stands, it nevertheless played important part in the history of South Cairo.