Jack Murphy

I came to New Paltz in 1967 to attend college at SUNY New Paltz. I had always been interested in history, particularly in the local history of my hometown and neighboring communities, and adding the pursuit of the history of my new home of New Paltz, and the Hudson Valley, has occupied me for over 50 years. I earned a degree in Fine Arts Photography, and have been documenting the architecture of the area, both residential and commercial/industrial. My interest in history has influenced my photography as I like to photograph roadside Americana, the traces of vanishing occupations and businesses, and historical sites and relics of the past. I have taken many day trips within New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and, among other trips, explored the D & H Canal from Honesdale to Kingston, visited sites along the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River that were key players in the Industrial Revolution, followed the rivers of New England and saw the vestiges of the mills that powered the economy, and traced the many early rail roads that connected this area to the greater world. I am amazed at the wealth of history, not just local and regional, that we are exposed to here in the Hudson Valley, but how important our area has been nationally and also internationally, from early colonial days onwards, and have only put a dent in my intended travels. We are truly fortunate to be residents of this place.

I am a long-time member of the Society for Commercial Archeology and the Society for Industrial Archeology. I have displayed my photographs locally and nationally, and have had work published in The Diana Show catalog of the exhibition by The Friends of Photography, Photographer's Forum, American Photographer, The Journal of Society for Commercial Archaeology, Combinations: A Journal of Photography, Camera Arts, Photography Year, Ulster Culture, The Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY), The Times Herald Record (Middletown, NY), Untitled: The Journal of the Friends of Photography, The New American Photographer, Ulster Arts, and SCA Road Notes the Society for Commercial Archeology News.

I have been a member and officer of the New Paltz Historical Society since Susan Stessin put out the first call suggesting the founding of this group.