New York’s Lost Communities: Washed Away But Not Forgotten

If you've seen the movie O Brother, where art thou? you know that part of the plot was that the government intentionally flooded the valley for a hydroelectric project to electrify the region.

While that was fictional, there are a few towns in New York State that have been flooded throughout history for one reason or the other.

The Price of Clean Water

For over a century, the growth of New York cities required massive infrastructure projects.

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To supply clean drinking water to millions of residents downstate and power navigation canals upstate, state and city planners looked to rural valleys.

Unfortunately, this means that progress came at a steep human cost for dozens of small, close-knit communities.

Town of Delta

The village of Delta, New York, was intentionally flooded in 1912.

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The flooding was part of a major state project to build the Delta Dam across the Mohawk River in Oneida County.

The resulting man-made reservoir, known as Delta Lake, or Delta Reservoir, was created to supply water for the expansion of the Erie Canal.

Before the valley was submerged, many of the village's structures were either torn down, dismantled, or moved to nearby locations like Westernville and Blossvale, and the residents relocated.

Submerged Homes and History

Between the early 1900s and the 1960s, the construction of massive reservoirs forced thousands of families to pack up and leave.

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Entire towns were deliberately dismantled or flooded.

In Delaware County, the Cannonsville Reservoir swallowed the town of Cannonsville, while the Pepacton Reservoir submerged the communities of Arena, Pepacton, Shavertown, and Union Grove along the East Branch of the Delaware River.

Further south in Sullivan County, the creation of the Neversink Reservoir submerged the original hamlet of Neversink.

Residents had to relocate their homes, businesses, and even local cemeteries to higher ground, forever altering the landscape of the Catskills.

Remembering the Past Today

While these reservoirs successfully solved water shortages for urban centers, the historical memory of the lost towns remains alive.

Local historical societies continue to preserve the stories, photographs, and genealogy of the families who gave up their homes.

Today, these tranquil lakes serve as vital lifelines for the state, but they also stand as quiet monuments to the communities that once thrived in the valleys below.