Athens, New York, USA
1884 - Athens

The town of Athens is bounded on the north by the town of Coxsackie, east by the Hudson River, south by the town of Catskill, and west by the town of Cairo. Its greatest length is about seven miles, and its width in the widest part along the river, is about five and one-half miles. The surface, like that of all the towns in this county, is exceedingly diversified. The principal geographical features of the eastern part of the town, are three ranges of hills running from north to south. The first of these, rising from the river, attains its greatest elevation about one and one-half miles from the shore, and bears the general name of Spoorenberg, or Spoor’s Hill, from the name of a family, which, in early times, occupied a homestead at its northern part. West of this range, lie the Athens Flats, a low valley of excellent land, with an average width of three-quarters of a mile. Next comes a range of rocky hills, known to the Dutch settlers as the Myneberg, or Mine Hill, from early attempts made in search of minerals. West of this is another section of low land of great fertility, known as the Vosen Kill Flats, and beyond this rise the high precipitous cliffs of limestone, forming an impassible barrier along its entire length in this town, excepting at two points, where it is crossed by the Athens and Schoharie Turnpikes. This range is known as the Kalkberg or Lime Hill. Beyond this is a high table land, varied by occasional hills, extending nearly to the western end of the town, where there is an elevated extent of land known as the High Hill, or Potick Mountain, whose lofty eminence and steep front form a striking feature of the southwestern part of the town. Potick Creek, at the base of this range, is the western boundary of the town, and at the southern end of the mountain there is a tract of low and fertile land, extending along the Katskill Creek.

Streams

The principal streams in this town are the Corlaers Kill, which rises in the flats near the West Shore Railroad station, and empties into the Hudson about two miles below the village of Athens; and the Murderer’s Creek, which has its source in the Myneberg, south of the homestead of Samuel Van Woert on the Kings road, and running from that place to the northern part of the town, then turning south, it reaches the river at the north end of the upper village of Athens. The prevalent idea that this name is derived from a murder committed on its banks in the early part of the present century, is fully disproved by the fact that it was so called long years before. It is first mentioned in early deeds as Mudenaer’s Creek, and sometimes as Mudder’s Creek. Probably from the corruption of these terms, by which it was known to the early settlers, has been derived its present baleful name.

The Hans Vosen Kill is one of the outlets of the sheet of water known as Hollister’s Lake. Near its source, on the place formerly owned by Nicholas Terry, and now in possession of Thomas N. Van Hoesen, on the extreme verge of the Catskill Patent, near the north line of the town, a portion of this stream disappears through an opening among rocks. The remainder of it flows to the south, and is the source of the Hans Vosen Kill. It runs through the valley known as Vosen Kill Flats, and empties into the Katskill Creek, a short distance above the West Shore Railroad bridge, in the village of Catskill. Near the center of the western part of the town is Green’s Lake, a beautiful sheet of water, with exceedingly picturesque surroundings. Its outlet, a small brook, flows to the south and runs into the Katskill Creel at the village of Leeds, between the Leeds Plow Works and the Stewart Mills. In early records it is called Dirck’s Killitje, or Dick’s Little Brook. The ancient name is now seldom heard, and no modern one supplies its place.

History of Greene County New York with Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men J.B. Beers,1884

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