About the Town of Andes
Visit the Andes page
Who shot the sheriff?
You’d never know that this quintessentially Catskill community — quiet, peaceful, welcoming — was the flashpoint for a murderous episode in 1845, one that changed the course of New York State history.
It happened almost two centuries ago, but the story of the Anti-Rent War still resonates in Andes, where farmers, rising up against the oppressive system of land patents that prevented them from owning their farms, killed undersheriff Osman Steele.
Visit the Hunting Tavern Museum and see where the doomed law man, stopping by for a pint enroute to the farm of Moses Earle to confiscate his cattle for non-payment of rent, reportedly blustered, “Lead can’t penetrate Steele.” His murder, by rebels costumed in leather masks and calico robes, was never solved, but it led to the end of the feudal land-holding system. Learn more about the Anti-Rent War at the museum, and drive to the Earle farm site where an outdoor exhibit offers more details.
What else is special about Andes?
- Trails! Stop at the top of Palmer Hill above the hamlet to drink in the spectacular view, and take a walk on a network of well-marked hiking paths. Check out the Andes Rail Trail, too. It starts at the newly refurbished Delaware & Northern Railroad Depot just outside the hamlet. It’s an easy walk, posted with interpretive signs. A more challenging loop at the end is for those with stamina!
- Its eminently walkable Main Street. Stroll up one side and down the other and stop in at the general store, hotel, shops, galleries and eateries.
- Andes Community Day. Held each August, the usually quiet Main Street is enlivened by a parade, and everyone is charged up for the annual celebration of all things Andes.