This book tells the tale of towns located in New York's Hudson River Valley that met their demise almost as quickly as they were established. Only traces of these once vibrant towns can now be found. The ice industry and rock quarries at Rockland Lake eventually evolved into a resort town. The town would virtually disappear as the property was transformed into park land.

Numerous towns became victims to New York City's construction of the Ashokan Reservoir east of Kingston. Once active quarry and farm communities, these towns were either flooded or relocated to satisfy the city's insatiable thirst for water.

Roseton, just north of the city of Newburgh, was home to several thousand whose lives revolved around the giant Rose and Jova brick-making companies. Pictured below is the Danskammer Mansion built by Edward Armstrong about 1834. Today, huge generating plants dominate the landscape.

Rockland County's Camp Shanks, one of World War II's most significant military compounds, was erected hastily in 1942 to accommodate almost 50,000 people at a time but was quickly abandoned at the war's end. "Last Stop USA" as it became known, played host to well over one million soldiers. It was replaced by Shanks Village, a haven for returning veterans (and their families) while they studied under the GI Bill. Its demise gave way to suburban development.

Wesley and Barbara Gottlock revive the spirit of these lost communities as they celebrate the work ethic, patriotism, and heroism of past generations.