Mongaup Falls, Near Liberty, N.Y. Third Highest in New York State.
The thundering Mongaup Falls near Liberty, New York is the subject of this beautiful vintage photograph taken by Otto Hillig. The falls were approximately 80 feet tall and were once considered to be the 3rd highest waterfall in New York. The falls were destroyed in the 1920s with the construction of the nearby reservoirs. The postcard was manufactured in the United States. 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.
