(Upper Unadilla Valley, NY – Dec. 2015) Just in time for the holidays, the expanded version of the Upper Unadilla Valley Association’s original sell-out book, “Saving Our Valley,” is now available for the reduced price of $15. The expanded version initially was released nine years ago at almost twice that price.
The 253-page “Saving Our Valley Expanded Second Edition: Preservation and Conservation in Central New York” can be purchased at Davis Hardware and the Red Door in West Winfield and at The Horned Dorset Inn in Leonardsville. It also sells on-line at ebay.com for $20 per copy, with free shipping.
This detailed 2006 soft-cover edition includes 50 more pages than the first edition of the book published in 1999.
Like the first edition, it describes the association’s efforts over several decades to preserve, protect and promote awareness of the natural and historic resources in and around West Winfield, Unadilla Forks, Leonardsville, Bridgewater, and West Edmeston—but it also includes more history about each of those communities, Millers Mills, and additional historical maps, old photographs, tours and calendars.
“A River’s Story,” a feature found only in the second edition, describes early manufacturing along the Unadilla River. In addition to photographs and maps that pinpoint where buildings once stood, other images depict leisure activities spawned by the river. More recent updates describe the lingering damage inflicted by past and present activities along the river.
The book begins with the story of how area residents first pulled together in 1969 to challenge and avert a proposal to build a large dam on the Unadilla River in West Edmeston. The project would have flooded the fertile agricultural basin north to Bridgewater and West Winfield, alternately leaving it as a useless mud-flat when water was let down and redirected as far south as Maryland for drinking, recreation and flood control. The book also chronicles the group’s second successful efforts in the 1990s to stave off a proposed a power line that would have sliced through their scenic river valley.
The publication also features numerous illustrated booklets from tours the association sponsored to highlight the region’s geology, historical landmarks and homes, gardens, and businesses. Included is a unique 45-page section of Upper Unadilla Valley barns sketched by 24 different local artists.
To view several sample pages or learn more about the Upper Unadilla Valley Association, visit its web site at uuva.org.