Rails to the Catskills

A look at hippie family life at its fullest through a lens of astrology. Life with chickens, music and much more.

The 45-minute documentary celebrates the history of the Catskill Water System with rare archival film footage and historic photographs. Deep Water tells the story of the building of the Ashokan Reservoir, Shandaken Tunnel, Schoharie Reservoir, and the Catskill Aqueduct. Narrated by Robb Webb (the voice of "60 Minutes II"), Deep Water documents how several Catskill Mountain towns were destroyed and flooded, how immigrant workers built the dams and tunnels, and how brilliant engineering and political maneuvering allowed the system to be built.

In the Gilded Age and beyond, high fashion decreed that violets were the flower of choice for Valentine's Day, Easter, and a fragrant corsage. At its height, in the years before World War I, Rhinebeck, New York, growers shipped millions of sweet violets (viola odorata) to New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and beyond.

There isn't much left of the once-grand Catskill Mountain House. The lavish resort hotel was perched on a precarious ledge in Greene County for over a century. During its 19th-century heyday, the hotel embodied the peak of luxury for a generation of the rich and famous. But like many resort hotels of the Catskills' glittering past, the Mountain House fell into disuse in the 20th century and was finally destroyed by the state of New York in 1963 to return its scenic overlook to wilderness. The Catskill Mountain House and The World Around was given the Gold Remi Award by the 44th WorldFest Houston International Film Festival!

This program provides an intimate glimpse into communal ways and ritual at the height of the counter culture. Includes cameo appearances by Abbie Hoffman and Paul Krassner of Yippie! fame.

The 73 minute film, MOUNTAIN RIVER, follows the Esopus Creek, from its headwaters on Slide Mountain in New York’s Catskill Mountains, to the Ashokan Reservoir, and on to the Hudson River at Saugerties - a fascinating journey of 65 miles. The story begins with the ancient geologic forces that formed the Catskills and goes on to explore the Native American and colonial settlements along the Esopus. The documentary covers the history of New York City’s Ashokan Reservoir, the development of water-power on the stream, and the innovative beginnings of the American Industrial Revolution along the Esopus in Saugerties. The film celebrates the Upper Esopus as a world class trout fishery, a recreational resource and a critical source of clean, unfiltered water for millions of New Yorkers. Below the Ashokan Reservoir, the Lower Esopus flows through steep gorges, rich agricultural lands and several towns on its way to the Hudson River.

John Vanderlyn “...is pronounced to be the first painter that now is or ever has been in America.” ~ Aaron Burr, 1802 “The First Artist in America” is the story of John Vanderlyn, the celebrated artist who portrayed seven American presidents, rose to fame as a 19th century neoclassical history painter, and died penniless and alone in his hometown of Kingston, New York.