Members of the Historical Society of Walden & the Wallkill Valley gathered along East Main Street in Walden last Saturday, March 29 to unveil their latest project: a historical marker dedicated to the village’s former trolley route. This marker came to fruition thanks to the Historical Society’s efforts and funding from the William C. Pomeroy Foundation, an organization that helps communities preserve their local history.
Between 1985 and 1926, an electric interurban railway crossed over East Main Street and the Plank Road, transporting passengers and cargo between Walden and Newburgh. While the trolley route is long gone, this new marker serves as a reminder of the old railway, located slightly east of Dunkin’ and Frostee Freeze.
During the marker dedication, Historical Society Member Mary Ellen Matise shared her favorite story associated with the trolley: the Black Hand Murder of 1917. In 1916, Caterina DeLella and her family moved from New York City to Walden during the Polio epidemic; her husband, John, had gotten a job at the Schrade Cutlery. Matise speculated that DeLella was involved with the Black Hand Gang, a crime organization in the city that targeted Italian immigrants.
Mariano Rinaldo, leader of two Black Hand gangs, was displeased with DeLella’s departure and tried persuading her several times to move back to the city. On March 26, 1917, Rinaldo and his accomplice, Peter Paul, decided to pay DeLella a visit; the two took a train from New York City to Beacon, then a ferry across the Hudson River, and finally the trolley from Newburgh to Walden.
The following day, after arriving in the village, Rinaldo confronted DeLella and shot her to death. The murder caught the attention of Walden Police Chief George Ronk, who pursued Rinaldo until the two engaged in a shoot-out on the street; Ronk swiftly ended the shoot-out and killed Rinaldo. Paul attempted to escape the scene and take a trolley to Newburgh, but he was apprehended and arrested. Paul would ride the trolley one more time after getting apprehended, however: straight to county jail.