Monticello : Images of America
Monticello's founders supported Thomas Jefferson's populist ideals, naming their village for his Virginia home. Center of the Town of Thompson and seat of Sullivan County since 1809, Monticello was founded in 1804 and incorporated in 1830 by John and Samuel Jones. Tanning, lumbering, farming, and manufacturing gave way to tourism. The railroad came in 1871. A fire in 1909 decimated the downtown, but automobiles and an artery nicknamed "the Quickway" connected New York City to the mountains and made Monticello a recreation center.