GRAHAMSVILLE- The Taking of Cannonsville, a virtual program by Roger Luther, Broome County Historian, will be held on Sunday January 28, 2024, at 2 p.m. sponsored by the Time and the Valleys Museum in Grahamsville.
Cannonsville was a community in Delaware County, founded in the late 18th century by Benjamin Cannon who built the town’s first house and was its first Postmaster. Cannonsville was removed in 1964 by eminent domain along with other communities to create the Cannonsville Reservoir, which is part of the Delaware Water Supply System providing water to New York City.
The Taking: Not a tree was left standing. Every house, barn, business, church and school that remained was demolished or burned to the ground. At night fires glowed eerily throughout the smoke-filled valley. During the day bulldozers finished off whatever stone walls, chimneys and smoldering timbers remained. Trucks hauled away human remains disinterred from cemeteries and family graveyards. This is the story of Cannonsville – the Community, the Taking and the Reservoir.
Construction on the Cannonsville Reservoir began in 1955 and was completed in 1967. New York City claimed 19,910 acres for the Cannonsville Reservoir and displaced almost 1,000 residents from the communities of Beerston, Cannonsville, Granton, Rock Rift and Rock Royal. Eleven cemeteries with 2,150 graves were relocated.
Admission to this VIRTUAL ONLY program is FREE for Museum Members and $5 for non-members. To join the program, please register by email at info@timeandthevalleysmuseum.org and put Cannonsville Talk Link in the subject line, or call 845 985-7700. A link will be sent.
Non-members will be asked to please first make a donation on the Museum’s website at www.timeandthevalleysmuseum.org.
About the speaker: Roger Luther is the Broome County Historian and Executive Director of the Preservation Association of the Southern Tier. He has authored and co-authored several books and articles on Broome County History. Although Cannonsville is located just a few miles outside of Broome County, he was captivated by the story and has researched and photographed it for several years.
