Around Roxbury

What was once Beaverdam, Moresville, and Batavia-Kill are now known as Roxbury, Grand Gorge, and the Denver/Vega Valley. Pioneers worked their way south from Grand Gorge, and by the 1790s, the settlements in Roxbury, Denver, and Vega were beginning to take shape. Around Roxbury looks at the history of the area, from the 1800s to the mid-1900s. Farms, thriving businesses, fine hotels, boardinghouses, and community gatherings all contributed to the growth of Roxbury. Railroad baron Jay Gould and naturalist John Burroughs were both born in Roxbury, and each left their mark on history, both locally and nationally. The town has seen many changes yet manages to retain much of its appeal to this day.

Anthony Liberatore grew up in Yonkers, New York. He began spending time in Roxbury in the late 1960s as a teenager, visiting an older brother who bought a home here. Anthony made Roxbury his full-time home in 1982. He has always had an interest in local history, learning much from his mentors, like local historians Ron Ballard and Danny Underwood. He was appointed town historian in 2006. Anthony's wife, coauthor Lynette Hinkley Liberatore, can trace her Roxbury ancestors back to the early 1800s.