The Story of Marlborough: The History of a Town Landmark: Lattintown

The Hamlet of Lattintown begins along Mt. Zion Road in Marlboro and runs as far north as Conklin Hill Road, heading towards Highland. According to an article in the Southern Ulster Times, the name of Lattintown is “derived from the John and Jacob Latting family from Long Island who settled in the area in the mid-1700s. While today, Lattintown is mostly residential, this was not always the case.

In the early 1800s, Lattintown was the economic powerhouse of Marlborough. According to William Plank’s The History of Marlborough, this town “was not only the center of business activity, but of fun and frolic. There was frequently horseracing, dances and big Fourth of July celebrations.” Among other businesses, Lattintown was home to two hotels, the Lattintown Schoolhouse, and a Baptist Church (present-day Lattintown Christian Fellowship). However, by 1825, it was noted that “river commerce took most of the trade to Marlborough and Milton, and Lattintown became a ghost of its former self.”

Despite a shift in industry, Lattintown never lost its sense of community during the 1900s. Among one of the most popular businesses in Lattintown’s past was the Lattintown Garage and General Store. Bought by the Gasparoli family in 1921, the store and gas station operated well into the 1970s. According to an interview, featured in The Southern Ulster Times, between past town historian, Mary Lou Mahan and Robert Gasparoli, Gasparoli recalls that the garage was also a social center and that “in the evenings the customers would come sit around the pot-bellied stove and tell jokes, swap stories, and hold heated discussions on politics. The store was open seven days a week, with the day starting around 6:30am and ending around 10:00 or 11:00pm.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the community rallied to try to save the Lattintown Schoolhouse, which used to stand on Lattintown Road just south of Old Indian Road, and turn it into a museum. According to old records and newspaper articles, this one-room school was first built in 1840. Due to a fire, the school was rebuilt in 1877, and used as a grade school until 1944. Coal shortages as a result of World War II caused it to shut its doors permanently and students were redistricted. A survey from 1968 indicates that The Lattintown Gun Club used the building for meeting space and maintained the building temporarily. After this, the schoolhouse fell into disrepair.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the community became interested in preserving the structure. However, by then it was too late. An ice storm on Christmas Eve in 2007 caused one of the walls and its roof to collapse. Due to safety concerns, the schoolhouse was torn down shortly after in early 2008.

Today, Lattintown is primarily residential and is home to numerous farms and wineries.

Sources:

Doyle, M. (2008). Old Schoolhouse Damaged. The Times Herald Record.

“Honoring A Duke and a Poet.” (2006). The Southern Ulster Times.

Mahan, M.L. (1996). Lattintown School House Survey 1968-1969.

Plank, W. (1959). History of the Town of Marlborough. Marlborough, N.Y.: The Fifty-Niner.

“The Lattintown Garage and General Store.” (2004). The Southern Ulster Times.

Werlau, E. (2008). “Landmark Imperiled.” The Southern Ulster Times.