Mount Tremper, officially Tremper Mountain, rises above New York’s Esopus Creek valley near Phoenicia and reflects the broader history of the Catskills. Land around the mountain began to be used in the 1780s, and in the 19th century its slopes supported hemlock bark harvesting for tannin and later bluestone quarrying. An old bark road survived into the hiking era and remains an important Catskill example. In 1879 Jacob Tremper opened the Tremper House, an early railroad resort visited by figures including Henry Ward Beecher and Oscar Wilde. In the 20th century much of the mountain entered the Catskill Park Forest Preserve, and its summit fire tower, built in 1916 and later restored, helped make it a popular hiking destination.