For the past two weeks I missed posting about places I love to travel to (or would love to travel to) because they inspire wonder. But I’m back! And I’m back with vengeance since I’m currently staying in Chatham, NY which is the town that inspired Windsor, NY where four of my five book as set (and why yes, it does follow nicely with my alphabet theme!).
I’ll be posting pictures over the next few weeks of actual places that inspired fictional places, but I thought I would write a little about the area first. The first people in the Hudson Valley were, to my understanding, Mohican Native Americans. In the 1600s, the Dutch began settling in the area followed by Quakers and folks from (New) England. It became a county of the state of New York in 1786, after the revolutionary war. It’s pretty small now (about 4500 people) but back in the day, it was a major railroad line. Here’s a picture of the rail crossroads and the rail station which still stands today.
The station is now a bank (and is one of my favorite buildings in town) and while the town no longer has passenger service, there are still a number of trains that pass through here everyday.
Here’s another old picture of Chatham looking North up Main Street.
The clock tower (on the right) is still there as are most of the buildings. Along the right side of the street is where I placed Julie’s quilt shop, the health food store, and further up (out of sight in the picture) Megan’s ice cream store and the police station. On the left is Frank’s.
So just a little teaser of what’s to come over the next several weeks. Remember my books are fictional even if I’m inspired by this real life place!