Orange County Directory 1878-9
City of Middletown
Mr. Williams established the “Iron Age,” in Middletown which is now owned and published in New York by his son Mr. David Williams. In 1863 Wheeler, Madden & Clemson and Durrie & Rusher of New York, bought the works and the firm became Wheeler, Clemson & Co. In 1870 John T. Cockayne and Isaac P. Madden entered the firm, the firm name remaining the same. Mr. Geo. Rusher died in 1872 and Mr. E. P. Wheeler in 1876, the business being conducted by the surviving members of the firm. The reputation the Middletown files have acquired, needs not to be repeated here; suffice it to say they are second to none made in the United States.
There are three very large hat factories in the village; Dr. Joshua Draper’s, situated on the corner of Grove st. and R. R. ave, this being the largest; that of R. M. Babcock, located cor Mill and Water sts. is a large brick building three stories in height employing one hundred and fifty hands, and has a capacity of one hundred and fifty dozen hats per day; Fuller Brothers, located cor Mill and Water Sts. a brick building 45 X 200 feet, three stories in height, giving employment to one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty hands. All the factories manufacture wool hats alone at present. Next comes the large tannery of Howell, Hinchman & Co., one of the largest tanneries in the state, who are extensively engaged in the manufacture of morocco, giving employment to a large number of men. The Orange County Furnace & Machine Shop, located on Foundry St., A. L. Vail propr. Middletown Foundry & Machine Shop, Mulock & Coleman, proprs. located on Academy ave nr Main st. There are numerous smaller shops for the manufacture of agricultural implements, carriages, wagons. etc., cooper shops, etc., and a large milk condensing establishment, known as the Middletown Creamery, which receives daily from nine to ten thousand quarts of milk, which is condensed and forwarded to the New York office. Middletown is supplied with spring water from a large reservoir, two miles west of the village known as the Monhagen Lake, situated at an elevation at 140 feet above the village. The building of the reservoir and works cost the village $160,000. There is one main pipe twelve inches in diameter, and the village is about putting down another; the supply of water is calculated sufficient for a population of twenty thousand.
The Fire Department was organized in 1859, it consists at present of two engine companies, two hose companies and a hook and ladder company numbering together two hundred and ten men. The department is furnished with three thousand feet of hose, one hook and ladder truck, six ladders with full equipment of five buckets, pikes, hooks, axes, etc., four hose carriages, hose carts and two hand engines held as reserve. Each company has a house for its use, each furnished with a hall, which is finely fitted up, and here are held the regular monthly meetings of the company. The elevation of the reservior precludes the necessity of engines, as by attaching the hose to a hydrant a steam of water can be thown over the highest church spire in the village. Under the management of Ferris M. Pronk, its efficient chief, the Department has won an enviable reputation. Middletown may well be proud of her Fire Department.