Doctors Say, "Go to the Mountains!": How the Region's Reputation as a Healing Environment Built the Economy in Sullivan County - Sullivan County was formed from Ulster County in 1809, but its history as one of North America’s most healing environments dates back considerably before that. From the earliest visits of the Lenape, who constructed their sweat lodges among the willow trees on the banks of the Delaware to the tuberculosis sufferers who searched for a cure in the cool mountain climate, hundreds of thousands of people have visited this area over the years because of the clean air and pure water to be found here. This ongoing phenomenon has taken on a new significance in the wake of the COVID pandemic, and Sullivan County Historian John Conway delves into its past, present, and future in this captivating program.

John Conway has been the Sullivan County, NY Historian since 1993. He is a founder and president of The Delaware Company, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote and support the history and historic landmarks of the Upper Delaware River Valley and beyond.  He is the author of nine books and has written weekly newspaper columns on local history since 1987.  

From 1980 to 1994 he hosted a popular call-in radio talk show, and more recently hosted The Black Dog Tavern, a monthly radio show about local history on WJFF radio. He is regularly asked to provide a historical context for Sullivan County news events by the New York Times, Associated Press, and Fox News, among others.  He also collaborated with the Times Herald-Record newspaper on a series of award winning video documentaries, which are available for screening at www.classiccatskills.com.  

From 1998 to 2016 he taught a three-credit class on Sullivan County history at SUNY-Sullivan. 

John has been Editor-in-Chief of the revived Hurleyville Sentinel newspaper since 2016.