A HISTORY OF TIVOLI FROM INCORPORATION IN 1872 TO ITS CENTENIAL, JUNE 18, 1972 by Barbara Navins, Village Historian
Tivoli was the county's first planned development. Built on the ruins of a Frenchman Peter de Labigarre, who built a large house for himself, calling it "Le Chateau de Tivoli", and laid out plans for a surrounding village. The original Tivoli, known as Upper Red Hook Landing until the mid-19th century, was a river settlement of the rich, within eye-range of the ever-changing shapes and hues of the Kaatskill (Catskill) Mountains. Inland was another hamlet called Myersville, Mechanicsville, finally referred to as Madalin, apparently named after Magdalen Island, which lies slightly south of the village in the Hudson River. The voters of Madalin decided by a margin of 117-52 on June 18, 1872, to have both places fully incorporated. At that time, the population boasted 1,081, 629 of whom lived in Madalin and the balance along the river in Tivoli. According to the 1970 Federal census, there was a total of 787 residents. During the latter half of the 18th Century the Village of Tivoli grew with the arrival of the Irish immigrants who helped complete the Hudson River Railroad's two tracks as far as Tivoli. In the 1890's Polish immigrants came to the prosperous village and bought farms on its outskirts. At the height of the steam locomotives importance, Tivoli became a principal wood and water station, and when Watson D. Otis became the Divisional Superintendent of the railroad, he arranged for his own convenience to have all the work trains leave from there. Jobs were provided for over a hundred men. Passenger and freight service ended in 1963 when both the freight house and the station were sold and town down. No longer is it possible to imagine the two abandoned river docks which were established in 1838 by Capt. John L. Collier and Lewis Beckwith at the lower dock, and by Peter Outwater at "Feroe's", or the upper dock, as being stacked three barrels high with apples, pears and other produce, some destined to be reloaded onto other ships for export to Europe. Local farmers and their wagons would wait in line from the top of the hill to the river front, for their turn to unload their products. A ferry service running between Saugerties and Tivoli was begun in 1859. The first ferry, the "Air Line", built in Philadelphia in 1857, had a wooden hull, was 73 feet long, and had a giant walking beam 20 feet. Because of her single bow, the boat had to be completely turned after each crossing. For this reason, a fare of 25 cents was charged — the highest fare on any ferry on the Hudson at this time. The crossing took between 20 and 25 minutes, depending on the tide. Another ferry the "Menantic" succeeded the "Air Line" and ran until the 1940's when the service ended due to lack of business. 67
