Liberty, N.Y.
This vintage postcard shows a birds-eye view of the village of Liberty in Sullivan County, New York. The beautiful fields of flowers in the foreground and the looming mountains in the background show off the idyllic landscape of the southern Catskills. The photograph was taken by Otto Hillig and the postcard was published by Barton & Spooner located at Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York. The postcard was manufactured in Germany. It was never mailed.
Otto Hillig can be considered one of the great photographers in Catskills history. Arriving from Germany in the United States as a poor teenage immigrant he took on a series of odd jobs before developing a prosperous photography business at his adopted hometown in the village of Liberty in Sullivan County, New York. He operated a well-regarded portrait studio in the village, extensively photographed the landscapes of the region and was considered an earlier pioneer of aerial photography.
