By Wildert Marte
HOBART — On this very week 125 years ago, Hobart was a village brimming with activity, its streets lined with businesses, its churches and schools in full swing, and its people gathering news that today reads like a living time capsule.
The Independent of September 15, 1900, carried columns of reports “briefly told,” yet together they painted a vivid picture of life in the Catskills at the dawn of the new century. There was news of roof repairs on the Rexmere, of J.B. Stevenson building an ice pond on his farm, and of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church baptizing several children in a well-attended Sunday service. Train schedules, community concerts, and the bustle of fairs in Oneonta all showed how Hobart was closely tied to both local routines and the wider region.
Perhaps the most striking news was the announcement of a new barn at the Commercial Hotel. The old livery barn was to be torn down and replaced with a “spacious structure” two stories high, with a basement and carriage yard. As the paper declared, Hobart was climbing upward, and its citizens were urged to lend support so the village could boast a modern, up-to-date hotel complex.The Hobart Water Company also met that week, planning improvements such as cleaning reservoirs, installing new filters, and even putting meters on users’ lines so customers would be charged by the amount consumed. It was described as a “fair and square deal to everybody,” a reminder that issues of infrastructure and equity have long shaped small-town governance.
Other notices carried the small rhythms of daily life. Charles McMorris went squirrel hunting on Mount Bob, spent all his ammunition shooting at crows, and then almost mockingly, spotted a dozen squirrels he could no longer shoot. Excursion trains to the Oneonta Fair carried hundreds of passengers, with 161 tickets sold in Hobart alone on Wednesday, the “big day.” Crowds were so heavy that some were left at stations for lack of space. The Cascade Hose Company held its annual meeting, electing new members and officers, while the Independent’s society pages reported visits among neighbors: Miss Jane Robinson in Oneonta, Mrs. Agnes Miller visiting from Bovina, and Rev. A.A. Walker purchasing a fine rubber-tired carriage at Catskill. The village was small, but its network of comings and goings stretched wide.
Hobart was not without culture. A concert at Grant’s Opera House, hosted by the Catskill Mountain Symphony, was hailed as “without doubt the finest musical entertainment ever given in this village.” The soprano Louise Cooke and violinist Enos Johnson won hearts, while the orchestra under Dr. B.W. Landon earned fresh laurels. Even in 1900, the arts were valued as part of village life, with net receipts of about $26 a tidy sum for a rural community. Though much of the issue centered on Hobart itself, world and state news flowed into the village via the Independent. Professor Duncan Campbell Lee of Bovina stirred up the Democratic state convention in Saratoga by challenging the ice trust, a monopoly that drove up prices on a necessity of daily life. In nearby Stamford, farmers resisted signing contracts with Borden Condensed Milk Company, seeking higher prices for their milk to offset feed costs and shortages of hay. The Independent even noted curious items: a junk dealer could profit by gathering the many hats and whiskey bottles dropped along the Ulster & Delaware tracks by fairgoers, and in North Kortright, lightning struck a farmhouse, temporarily paralyzing a young woman.
Reading Hobart’s newspaper from September 15, 1900, you can see a small town full of energy and moving forward, while still built on everyday life like farming, church, and neighbors helping each other. Ads for corsets, floor paint, and fall hats were printed right next to stories about train accidents, concerts, and church events. The people of Hobart 125 years ago cared about many of the same things we do today: fair prices, safe roads and water, good schools, and living in a strong, supportive community. Back then, the Independent told its readers to “push hard” for Hobart's future. That history shows us how, over the years, people in town have always worked to keep Hobart moving forward.
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