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History · Mountain Dale

Mountain Dale’s post office opened in 1880, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1909 on.

1880first post office
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Mountain Dale began

When was Mountain Dale founded?

1880

The Mountain Dale post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 633146 years
Founding year: the first Mountain Dale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Mountain Dale’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mountain Dale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19095 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1982. Watch Mountain Dale change.Old housesHalf of Mountain Dale’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mountain Dale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mountain Dale’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Mountain Dale on the map, 1909 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mountain Dale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mountain Dale on the 1909 USGS mapMountain Dale on the 1911 USGS mapMountain Dale on the 1943 USGS mapMountain Dale on the 1966 USGS mapMountain Dale on the 1982 USGS map1909Monticello sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mountain Dale.

The story

How Mountain Dale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mountain Dale.

Read it all →

Mountaindale changed drastically in character from a rural farming hamlet, beginning with the arrival of the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, and the name change of the local post office, in December 1880, from Sandburg(h) to Mountain Dale. Around that time a number of farmhouses that were more hotels than farms opened, and beginning in 1899 the ethnic character of the area began to change from predominantly gentile to predominantly Jewish.

ChaptersBach to Rock Festival

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the National Register

1 historic place in Mountain Dale

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Mountain Dale

Nobody well known was born in Mountain Dale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Gavin DeGrawAmerican singer · b. 1977
Queen HarrisonAmerican hurdler and sprinter · b. 1988
Randall BatinkoffAmerican actor · b. 1968
Stanley FinchFirst director of the FBI · b. 1872
Simeon De WittAmerican geographer and surveyor general · b. 1756
Z
Zoe LeonardAmerican photographer · b. 1961
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Fallsburg11 historic placesA−Mamakating4 historic placesA

Questions about Mountain Dale’s history

What year was Mountain Dale founded?

The Mountain Dale post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.