Film Mystery is Growing in Upstate Sullivan County New York near Woodstock

In what is believed to be an annex of a United States Revolutionary building known as Fort Roosa, some footage has been delivered to several key people in the Sullivan County region of New York State. This is where the big concert Woodstock took place in August of 1969. This is also where the famous rock group Vanilla Fudge led by bass player Timmy Bogert first started writing their songs and cutting the teeth of the band together.

The five minute piece of footage was shot, in the Super 8 format, in the hamlet of Burlingham, New York Specifically but not totally on the Ski Run Road. The year and season of production was the winter of 1973. If you are unfamiliar with the Super 8 film format it was a beautiful film vehicle to shoot on. The format had its' heyday in the early to mid Seventies, after Regular 8 and just before videotape.

The film features well-known landmarks, such as Old Man Hamilton's general store, the Methodist cemetery, Lake Echo and several other important, lower Sullivan County New York landmarks.

However the most mysterious and intriguing part of the film has to do with a small building right at the edge of Ski Run Road and Roosa Gap Road. The origin of this building is rapidly becoming a research project to museum curators, local historical society officers, long-time residents, tourists, and the general public alike.

What is known as Fort Roosa proper sits caddy-corner to the former site of this unknown building. However as is clearly visible in the film the official New York State historical marker sat with the building in question. Because of this fact, it is my belief that "the building" was the actual fort itself, or certainly an annex to the fort. There is speculation circulating the building was a stockade to house captured Native American Indians, bad soldiers, a barn, and in later years a sort of resort that could be considered a bungalow.

Fort Roosa itself is the oldest building in Sullivan County, being built in 1731. The no longer existing building we're trying to ascertain the purpose of was built with the exact same stone masonry as the big fort. Therefore it was either the fort itself, which I think it was, or served some kind of auxiliary use.

The building exists only in this Super 8 film, shot in 1973. There are no other photographs or films known to exist of the building. It and the State Historical Marker are no longer standing, and the local town officials have put out an urgent plea to have the marker returned to them.

Andrew Arpey, Senior Archivist for the New York State Archives writes, "Mr. Lifshine, I found the text of the Roosa Fort marker on the website of the New York State Museum."

The text reads: ROOSA FORT

BUILDING STARTED BEFORE
REVOLUTIONARY WAR. LATER
OWNED AND COMPLETED BY
ABRAHAM ROOSA OR SON JACOB
WHO LIVED IN CABIN ON HILL
Location: ON TOWN RD. AT ROOSA GA

As the film is now in the hands of local officials, Arthur Hessinger, curator of the Sullivan County Historical Society writes, dear Scott Lifshine, On behalf of the Officers and Directors , the community, and visiting researchers, I would like to thank you for your recent gift to the Museum re: 1 - VCR that includes view of Fort Roosa & area.

Helene Goetschius, administrator of the Mamakating Museum where the fort is located is particularly excited about this film. Ms Goetschius states, "the film is rapidly becoming a research project here in the County. I am showing it to locals and at community events."

Linda Helm, administrator of the Bloomingburg Restoration Foundation states, "I will be contacting all local media with the discovery of this film within the very near future."

There is no question this film, called "the Fort Roosa Film" is stirring quite a bit of excitement in Sullivan County, New York. Ms. Goestschius is also the director of all local cemetery research projects, and she is ecstatic over the film because it does have footage of the Ski Run Road cemetery, which is helping her tremendously in her research efforts tracking down local plots which consist of revolutionary war soldiers and soldiers of other major conflicts. To have a film come "out of the blue" like this in September of 2009 is a tremendous advent to the local community and a very helpful, spiritual and worthwhile one.

Local media coverage should be major once Ms. Helm returns from vacation and begins contacting all local media to talk about the discovery of this unique, unprecedented, lovely, and very important film in the history of Sullivan County and the State of New York as a whole. A media submission has been made to PBS's History Detectives.