Port Jervis has an excellent system of public sewers, established in 1891 at a cost of about $85,000, for which the bonds of the village were issued. The original sewer commissioners were Francis Marvin, L. E. Carr, George Schoonover, W. A. Drake, M. D. Graham, with Ed. Whitner, clerk. Its establishment has resulted in a lowering of the death rate and a notable diminution in zymotic diseases within the city limits. CHURCHES. Port Jervis has eight churches, which in the order of their establishment are as follows: _The Reformed Church of Deer Park,_ founded August 23, 1737, under the name of the _Reformed Dutch Church_ of Mahackemech; _Drew Methodist Episcopal Church_ and the _Baptist Church,_ both founded in 1838; _First Presbyterian,_ incorporated July 15, 1851; _Grace Episcopal Church,_ incorporated September 3, 1853; the _Church of the Immaculate Conception,_ incorporated January 10, 1860; _German Lutheran Protestant,_ Port Jervis, incorporated January 1, 1861; the _Second Reformed Church,_ whose house of worship on West Main street (in Germantown), was dedicated November 29, 1896, with Rev. David T. Harris as pastor; the _Church of Sacred Heart_ (in Germantown), whose handsome church edifice of brick was dedicated in November, 1899, with Rev. B. J. Duffy, ordained in Rome, as first pastor. The colored people also have a church organization known as the _Wickham A. U. M. P. Church,_ in honor of the late Dr. D. T. Wickham, the principal contributor to their church building. ST. MARY'S HOME. A religious, educational and charitable institution of great merit and usefulness is St. Mary's Home, founded in 1871 by the late Rev. Father Nelan, its object being to provide a home for orphan children and to train and instruct them for a useful place in society. For over twenty years this institution has been in charge of Sister Theophelia, a woman whose motherly instincts and marked administrative abilities peculiarly fit her for this highly important work. MINISINK VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. An event of great importance to the residents of this town was the organization of the Minisink Valley Historical Society in 1888. Among the active promoters of this undertaking were Rev. Dr. S. W. Mills, Francis Marvin, Dr. John Conkling, O. P. Howell, Dr. Sol Van Etten, C. E. and W. L. Cuddeback, W. H. Nearpass and C. F. Van Inwegen. Its collection of relics and manuscripts is large and of great value to the genealogist and historian. Its library numbers more than 1,500 volumes of books and pamphlets. Its manuscripts exceed 1,000 in number. With the facilities offered by its new home in the Carnegie Library building and protection and safety provided by its fireproof vaults, it will in time become the repository of all valuable documents and manuscripts in this vicinity. OLD BURYING GROUND RESTORED.