Town of the Week: Roxbury

  |  April 23, 2012

Roxbury Methodist Church, via Wikipedia

The phrase “tucked away” is used entirely too much in real estate listing descriptions and town websites touting the remoteness of a location. And yet, we found ourselves thinking it as we traveled the long and winding Route 30 through Delaware County to the hamlet of Roxbury.

It was worth the trip. Roxbury is located in the eastern part of the county, and Route 30, which zips straight through town, is white-picket fence territory with lots of pretty houses and blooming trees just to drive the point home.

In typical “Don’t Blink” fashion, we found ourselves beyond Roxbury before we even realized it, and we ended up having to back track to get a better look at what’s there, which is not much, but we weren’t surprised by that. Roxbury is a quality-over-quantity kind of place, and what is there is cute, bucolic, and peaceful. In fact, it was nearly dead quiet for a sunny spring Saturday morning.

Kirkside Park, Roxbury

It’s completely understandable why someone like John Burroughs might become a naturalist growing up in Roxbury. It’s beautiful country out there, and fairly pristine.

There are a number of Main Street properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places (here’s a good list of them), and Roxbury is one of around 800 communities participating in Preserve America, a federal initiative that helps communities protect their historical heritage. The town (pop. ~2,500) even has small but thriving arts community via the Roxbury Arts Group.

Kirkside Park is one of the reasons we enjoyed our jaunt to Roxbury. Centered around small stream, Kirkside consists of a short walking trail, footbridges, a playground, and a small, open Victorian playhouse for kids that was delightfully free of graffiti and the detritus of a hundred squatters using it as a hiding place, as it might in some other towns.

The real estate market is modest in Roxbury. Given its proximity to Hunter and Windham Mountains, there are plenty of luxury ski-chalet getaway houses on the market, and there are a few bargains, too. The taxes aren’t too bad, ranging from around $2000 to $7000 for the properties we perused.

Roxbury is remote, there’s no doubt about it. But all that isolation has kept it shiny and untarnished. More on the town, its history, and what to do there on the town blog.

Kirkside Park, Roxbury

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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