GRAHAMSVILLE- Memorial Day Weekend marks the opening of the Time and the Valleys Museum in Grahamsville and this weekend, the museum is featuring a special exhibit on the intricate aqueduct system that provides drinking water to parts of Westchester County and New York City that comes from the Catskills.
Donna Steffens, museum director, spoke about the exhibits on display on opening weekend.
”The museum’s mission is about water and the people in the Catskills, past present, and future stories,” she said. “We are a regional museum that covers the history, the environment, watershed protection, and anything having to do with the Catskill area.”
While many local residents know about the aqueduct system, many do not know the controversy that surrounded the construction of this system decades ago.
”People lost their homes, in some cases twice. They were forced to move because New York City needed the land to build reservoirs to hold water that is going down to New York City,” said Steffens.
Despite the impact on local residents, Steffens explained the benefits of the aqueduct system to Sullivan County and the surrounding area.
”New York City is one of the largest employers in the area. Many people that live here are employed by them. Also, there’s not that much development because there are certain things that they can’t have here when you’re in the water system,” she said. “You can’t have gas stations and things like that. It keeps the area beautiful so as you drive and look at these beautiful reservoirs and the beautiful land you realize it’s that it’s pristine like that because the system is here.”
