In the 1830s, Swiss emigrants settled in Jeffersonville, a small village in Sullivan County, New York, in the southwestern part of the Catskills. The original Swiss name, “Winkelried Society,” was later changed to Jeffersonville in honor of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. Jeff’s moderate summer climate attracted many tourists and stimulated the building of several hotels. The village was incorporated on November 24, 1924. Read more about its history here (www.jeffersonvilleny.com/jeffersonville_history_article.html).
Surrounded by mountains, Jeffersonville (Jeff) is located in a valley created by Callicoon Creek. A 23-acre Lake Jefferson lies within the village boundaries. Jeff’s highest point is upper Jefferson Avenue, 1275 feet, and its lowest point is Kohlertown, 1040 feet. It has an area of 1.5 square miles.
The population has not changed much over the years, 421 in 1950 and 352 in 2012. According to the US Census, the majority (95.3%) of residents identify as white, and one in ten (11.5%) identifies as Hispanic. Close to a third are 62 years or over (32.1%) and 15% are under 18 years. Over half (53.6%) of the residents have a high school degree or less, and 15.5% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Unemployment in 2010 was 6%.
According to the Comprehensive Plan of the Village of Jeffersonville, the buildings constructed within the Village over the years reflect some outstanding and unique forms of architecture. Victorian themes prevail and an excellent example of this is the two-story porched inn with the mansard roof on Maple Avenue. It reflects the Second Empire period of 1855-1885 and is superbly maintained. Another is the Queen Anne Victorian (1880-1910) Griffin House Bed and Breakfast, also on Maple Avenue. This area of the Village contains a number of interesting and well-maintained structures including a nice example of Italiante (1840-1885) architecture with Victorian influences at the corner of Maple Avenue and Chapel Street. (Shepstone Management Co. 1997).
In addition to the residential construction projects, two large commercial projects took place in Jeffersonville in its early years, namely, the Lake Jeff Dam and the new Central School District. The first project was the dam and was built in 1937, is 240 ft. long, 18″ thick and 30 ft. high at the spillway. Today, the dam is used for hydroelectric power. Malcolm and Ann Brown have worked tirelessly to make this a possibility. The hydroelectric plant is located at the base of the dam and its power is used to run the nearby Public Radio Station of WJFF, which was founded by the Browns.
The second project of the new Central School District held its first classes in 1939. The last class to graduate from the Jeff School, located near the Lions Field, was the class of 1938. The new school, overlooking the Village, was modeled after the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was constructed at a total cost of $417,500. The school is still in use today and in 1988, was even listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1968 an addition was built onto the Jeffersonville-Youngsville Central School. The school was again enlarged in 1994. Voters from Narrowsburg, Callicoon and Jeffersonville approved a school district merger in 1999. A new high school will be built in Lake Huntington. The current Jeff School will house grades K-8 once the new high school is completed. The village¹s libraries also merged.
The Village Houses of Worship include The First Presbyterian Church formed in 1842, Saint George’s Roman Catholic Church formed in 1843, The Lutheran Church started as the Reform Church in 1852, the Methodist Church and the Congregation Ahavath Shalom.
Jeffersonville has a wonderful volunteer fire department and ambulance corps that has given this community many years of dedicated service. Many local families are active in community groups such as Jeffersonville¹s boy and girl scouts, youth sports teams, Lions Club, Masons, Eastern Stars, Veterans and other worthy organizations.
