The Mountain Witch of Sugar Loaf: Local Legend Turns into a Local Feud

Have You Heard of The Mountain Witch In Sugar Loaf, NY?

I love a good local legend. Thankfully, there are a ton across the Hudson Valley region we can choose from.

You can find many Legend & Lore Historical Marker signs in the area and on in particular is the topic of discussion.

The Sugar Loaf Historical Society shared on Facebook recently details of The Mountain Witch.

In the post they write that Hugh and Elizabeth Dobbin were the first 'white settlers' in Sugar Loaf and lived at the base of a local mountain "for decades."

When Hugh passed away Elizabeth, aka Lizzy, "carried on, and running their farm alone became a huge burden for her so she allowed it to fall into disrepair and stayed away from Town."

The post goes on:

Local Legend Historical Marker Stirs Up Drama

In 2024, the Sugar Loaf Historical Society applied for a "competitive marker grant for the William G. Pomeroy Foundation to commemorate Lizzy Dobbin's "Mountain Witch" legend."

The historical society brought the application to the town board for approval, and followed up with the board for placement locations for the marker.

The grant for the historical marker was approved and the Legends & Lore Mountain Witch sign was posted in 2025.

However, according to the Sugar Loaf Historical Society, some in the community are not fans. They explain in a social media post:

After we proudly placed our historic marker, a recently-relocated resident bully who serves as president of the local 'community foundation' began complaining to the town

The post goes on to say the complaint reads: "It is aesthetically horrible, it's a bright red sign that doesn't fit the other beautiful signs in our hamlet."

In the comment section below the post the Sugar Loaf community shared their thoughts on the complaint.

One person writes "for the person in opposition... Have a toast to Elizabeth and settle down."

Another comment states:

People are entitled to have opinions. Not everyone will see that the intent here was to share and preserve a historical person or moment in time. It’s hard to control people’s perception. But I do appreciate the history you shared. So thank you

See the post and additional opinions on the Legends & Lore marker below:

Some of Our Favorite Local Legend and Lore Historic Markers

I love a good historical marker, but my favorite are definitely of the Legend and Lore variety.

Stories like the Mountain Witch in Sugar Loaf give character to our local towns. A few of my personal favorites are:

The Abraham Lincoln Ghost Train, Hyde Park- A ghost train, carrying Abe Lincoln's body allegedly passes through Hyde Park every April 25th as it did back in 1865 after Lincoln's death.

READ MORE: Have You Seen This Historical Ghost Train in Hyde Park, New York?

The Fiddlers Ghost in Staatsburg- The ghost of a murdered fiddler is said to appear and play the fiddle on "moonlit nights."

The Headless Horseman, Sleepy Hollow - We couldn't leave out the iconic story of the Headless Horseman who is said to still appear in the Sleep Hollow churchyard.

Take a look below at 17 of some of the most unique, and creepy, Legends & Lore historical markers around the region below: