A Brief History of Callicoon

Callicoon began to grow long after the fur trade. When the Erie Railroad came through town in the 1840s, it bought lumbering, tanneries, paper mills, and small farms to fuel the local economy, along with hotels and boarding houses for the many visitors who arrived by train.

In 1901, Franciscan priests bought a large boarding house overlooking the Delaware River and built a Romanesque-style seminary on the site. That’s the seminary in our name. From our orchard and cidery, located about a mile outside town, you can look down and see the historic seminary and the surrounding Delaware River Valley. The views are spectacular!

By the mid-twentieth century, tourism to Callicoon had declined. But the twenty-first century has seen a revival, and downtown Callicoon, an area that includes our Boarding House, is now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Seminary Hill is thrilled to play a role in welcoming visitors once again to Callicoon and our corner of the Catskills!