Rondout

Main article: Rondout, New York

Prior to 1825 Rondout was a small farming village. Construction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal from Rondout to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, brought an influx of laborers. With the completion of the canal in 1828, Rondout became an important tide-ware coal terminal. Natural cement deposits were found throughout the valley, and in 1844 quarrying began in the "Ponchockie" section of Rondout. The Newark Lime and Cement Company shipped cement throughout the United States, a thriving business until the invention of the cheaper, quicker drying Portland Cement. Large warehouses of ice sat beside the Hudson River from which the ice was cut during the winter and preserved all year to be used in early refrigeration.^[4] Large brick making factories were also located close to this shipping hub.^[5][6] Rondout's central location as a shipping hub ended with the advent of railroads which ran through Rondout and Kingston but could transport their loads through the city without stopping.