The Hamlet's first "Beautification Committee, c. 1980s"  Matthew Kannon, Proprietor of the charmingly historical "Barnsider Tavern", and his dad, "Walter Kannon", co-visionary of the "Sugar Loaf Crafts Hamlet" concept of 1968. Walter began his "Barnsiding" business in the present-day "Barnsider Tavern" building. Taverning has been one of the primary industries of Sugar Loaf since the revolution; It has also been the one constant. The interior of the tavern showcases austere 18th 19th century woodwork and relics, and the spicy aroma of Hot Apple Cider affords visitors the ambience of colonial Sugar Loaf. One cannot help but think of the horses which once hitched in front of Jesse Woods' 19th century store on the site, when one eyes the lineup of motorcycles "hitched" in front of the cozy tavern on 21st century weekends("'Loafers" still tend to be a fun-loving bunch...) 
Hugh Dobbin's (b.1709,County Antrim, Ireland - d.1785 Sugar Loaf, NY) colonial grave, undisclosed location amongst White Oaks and Blueberries in forests near Sugar Loaf Mtn. Two living individuals know the location of Mr. Dobbin's final resting place. It was the wish of past historians that it's location remain confidential, and the Sugar Loaf Historical Society remains cognizant of this request 
October 2006, Mine Valley, Sugar Loaf: L-R: 1. Ed Lenik, RPA, archaeologist/author of “Iron Mine Trails: A History and Hiker's Guide to the Historic Iron Mines of the New Jersey and New York Highlands”, “Picture Rocks: American Indian Rock Art in the Northeast Woodlands”, “Indians in the Ramapos: Survival, Persistence & Presence”; “Weekends in the soil” and “The Spirit Pond sod house”, (New England Antiquities Research Association. Special publication). 2. Don Steinmetz, GPS Specialist/Hudson Environmental Research Institute 3. Jack Focht, Former Director, Bear Mtn. Trailside Museum, (Palisades Interstate Park Commission) (cont'd below photo)  …Discussing one of many 19th c. mining tailings near Amzi Knapp’s 1880s iron mines in the “Mine Valley” between Sugar Loaf Mtn. and Mine Hill. Amzi Knapp kept a prolific distillery at the sharp turn on present-day “Pine Hill Road”, afew yards up from “Woods Road”. The trappers and loggers of 19th Century Sugar Loaf taverns crowed on about the preponderance of lodestones near the North Face of Sugar Loaf Mountain, and Amzi took it upon himself, (and his investors) to dig numerous test shafts. There was iron aplenty; so fouled with sulfur, however, it was deemed nearly worthless due to the cost of separation of the two elements. (Sulfur, incidentally, is the element which gives adjoining "Brimstone Mountain" it's name ) Occasionally, untrained observers speculate such tailings to be of Native American origin, and many spurious “ceremonial stone piles” have suddenly cropped up, in the 21st century, on sites where none stood, a decade previous. The pictured monolith, astride which Mr. Focke is standing, has suffered occasional misidentification as a paleoamerind “work station” where an ancient flint worker might sit to fashion flint tools. Qualified archaeologists and residents who recall the (now-filled) mine pits see it as one of thousands of blasted fragments left from Amzi’s short-lived mining endeavour. It is interesting to note that this stone only recently appeared alongside the "Mine Trail", having been recently relocated from one of the tailing piles covering the pits The Sugar Loaf Historical Society gratefully acknowledges the pictured archaeologists along with Dr. Ed McGowan, Phd, present director of the Trailside Museum at Bear Mtn./past science director of the NY/NJ Trail Conference, and Michelle Hauser, SCA, Intern/Site Steward with the Trailside Museum, and other site stewards who accompanied the Society's president in documenting the iron mines of Sugar Loaf Mtn.'s periphery What the facts of such events as Amzi Knapp’s “Ferrous Folly” lack in paleontological romance, they make up for in accuracy and 19th century roustabout charm. Remnants of Amzi Knapp's distillery can still be observed near the crest of "Boomer Hill", mere yards from Pine Hill Road, at the sharp corner above Woods Road. One of Sugar Loaf's legendary Piebald Deer Piebald (Mottled) and albino (White) -phase Whitetail Deer have been present off the Southern shoulder of Sugar Loaf Mountain for as long as any can remember. Legend has it that anyone who kills an Albino or Piebald Deer will suffer an untimely death. This has always been understood in nearby McGinnisburg, just across "Dutch Hollow" from Sugar Loaf Mountain, but many later residents have proven tragically unaware of this old Minsis Indian belief. Generations of hunters in the Sugar Loaf Valley have lowered their muzzles or bows at the site of these spectral beasts, for even the least superstitious gamble against such legendary odds. 
Same Buck, "Sugar Hills" community in background. 
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If you have any photos or stories you would like to share with The Sugar Loaf Historical Society, please e-mail them to: info@sugarloafhistoricalsociety.com or mail them to: Sugar Loaf Historical Society P.O. Box 114 Sugar Loaf, NY 10981-0114 All photos are property of The Sugar Loaf Historical Society & its members  |