Timeline of town creation in the Hudson Valley

The Senate House, in Kingston, is where the U.S. state of New York was founded in 1777.^[1] The predecessors of Hudson Valley towns predate the state.

The towns and cities of the Hudson Valley were created by the U.S. state of New York as municipalities, in order to perform the services of local government.^[2] In 1683, prior to the creation of modern towns, the Province of New York was divided into twelve counties for administrative purposes by the Colonial Governor of New York. In the Hudson Valley, these divisions included Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster counties. Dutchess and Orange remained unorganized until 1713, with Dutchess administered from Ulster;^[3] Orange would be administered from New York County.^[4] Future counties would be formed and towns exchanged over time, with Rockland County split from Orange in 1799, at which time the southern towns of Ulster were transferred to Orange as compensation for the loss; and Putnam County from Dutchess in 1812, these county's towns can trace their origins to towns and precincts that were formed in their parent counties.^[3] Another change that occurred was the transfer of Dutchess County's northern section, the Livingston Manor, to Columbia County. Greene County was formed in 1800 by the combination of the southernmost towns of Albany County with the northernmost towns of Ulster. The history of the towns of Greene and Columbia counties can be found at the Timeline of town creation in New York's Capital District.

New York experimented with different types of municipalities before settling upon the current format of towns and cities occupying all the land in a county,^[5] and all previous forms were transformed into towns (or divided into multiple towns) in 1788 when all of the state of New York was divided into towns.^[2] Some early forms of government in earlier years included land patents with some municipal rights, districts,^[6] precincts,^[7] and boroughs.^[8] Though originally intended to be mere "…involuntary subdivisions of the state, constituted for the purpose of the more convenient exercise of governmental functions by the state for the benefit of all its citizens" as defined by the courts in 1916 (Short v. Town of Orange), towns gained home rule powers from the state in 1964, at which time towns became "a municipal corporation comprising the inhabitants within its boundaries, and formed with the purpose of exercising such powers and discharging such duties of local government and administration of public affairs as have been, or, maybe [sic] conferred or imposed upon it by law."^[9]

The following is a timeline showing the creation of the current towns from their predecessors stretching back to the earliest municipal entity over the area. The timelines only represent which town(s) a particular town was created from and do not represent annexations of territory to and from towns that already existed. All municipalities are towns unless otherwise noted as patent, township, borough, district, or city.

Dutchess County

Downtown Poughkeepsie as seen from across the Hudson River

Beacon 1913[10]

Wappinger 1875[10]

Rombout Precinct 1737–1788[10]

Fishkill 1788

East Fishkill 1849

Freedom 1821 (LaGrange from 1828)

Union Vale 1827

Beekman Precinct 1737–1788

Beekman 1788

Pawling's Precinct 1768–1788

Pawling 1788

Dover 1807

Crum Elbow Precinct 1737–1762[10]

Amenia Precinct 1762–1788

Amenia 1788

Charlotte Precinct 1762–1788 (Clinton from 1786)

Washington 1788[2]

Stanford 1793[10]

Pleasant Valley 1821

Rhinebeck Precinct 1737–1788

Clinton 1788

Hyde Park 1821

Rhinebeck 1788

Red Hook 1812

Poughkeepsie Precinct 1737–1788

Poughkeepsie 1788

Poughkeepsie City 1854

North Precinct 1737–1746[3] (Also known as Northeast)[7]

Northeast 1788

Milan 1818

Pine Plains 1823

Notes

• Dutchess County was one of the twelve original counties formed in 1683 in the Province of New York; but was under the governance of Ulster County until a county government was erected in 1713 at which point it received separate representation in the General Assembly. ^[3] In 1737 Dutchess was divided into seven precincts,^[7] six of which descended into the present towns of Dutchess County while the seventh became the progenitor of the towns of Putnam County.^[3]

Putnam County

Patterson Town Hall

Fredericksburgh[A] Precinct 1772–1788

Frederickstown[B] 1788 (Frederick from 1795 Kent from 1817)

Carmel[B] 1795

Franklin[B] 1795 (Patterson from 1808)

South Precinct[A] 1737–1772[10]

South East[A] Precinct 1772–1788[6][10]

Southeasttown[B] 1788 (Southeast from 1795)

Philips[A] Precinct 1772–1788

Philipstown[B] 1788

Quincy[C] 1839 (Putnam Valley from 1840)

Notes

[A] = A part of Dutchess County.

[B] = A part of Dutchess County until 1812, thereafter Putnam County.

[C] = A part of Putnam County.

Ulster County

Town and city boundaries within Ulster County in 1875

Hurley[A] Precinct 1708[3]–1788[2]

Hurley[A] 1788[2]

Hardenburgh[A] 1859

Woodstock[A] township 1787[3]–1788[2]

Woodstock[A] 1788[2]

Shandaken[A] 1804

Denning[A] 1849

Windham[D] 1788

Gardiner[A] 1853

Rochester[A] Patent 1703–1788

Rochester[A] 1788

Wawarsing[A] 1806

New Paltz[A] Patent 1677[3]–1788[2]

New Paltz[A] 1788[2]

Lloyd[A] 1845

Rosendale[A] 1844

Marbletown[A] Patent 1703[3]–1788[2]

Marbletown[A] 1788[2]

Olive[A] 1823

Esopus and Wiltwyck[B] Village/town 1661[11]–1702 (Kingston from 1669)

Kingston[A] Township 1702[3]–1788[2]

Kingston[A] 1788[2]

Kingston[A] City 1872

Saugerties[A] 1811

Shawangunk[A] Precinct 1743–1788

Shawangunk[A] 1788

Esopus[A] 1811

Ulster[A] 1879

Highlands[A] Precinct 1709[12]–1763

New Windsor[A] Precinct 1763–1788

For further descendants see Orange County[C]

Newburgh[A] Precinct 1763–1788

Marlborough[A] Precinct 1772–1788

Marlborough[A] 1788

Plattekill[A] 1800

For further descendants see Orange County[C]

Notes

[A] = A part of Ulster County.

[B] = A part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland until 1664, thereafter English, Ulster County after 1683.

[C] = A part of Ulster County until 1799, thereafter Orange County.

[D] = A part of Ulster County until 1800, thereafter Greene County. For further descendants see Timeline of town creation in New York's Capital District.

• Wiltwyck and Esopus were a dependency of the Village of Beverwyck (Court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck) prior to 1661.^[3][13]
• Dash lines are used for leading to the town of Olive from its antecendants only help in tracking those lines, which due to space constraints cross other town's lines. No significance should be interpreted with the use of dash lines leading to the town of Olive.

Orange County

Highlands[A] 1872

Cornwall[A] Precinct 1764–1788

New Cornwall[A] 1788[2] (Cornwall from 1797)

Blooming Grove[A] 1799

Woodbury[A] 1890[14]

Chesecocks[A] 1799 (Southfield from 1801–1808 thereafter Monroe)

Tuxedo[A] 1890[14]

Warwick[A] 1788[2]

Chester[A] 1845

Goshen[A] 1788[2]

Goshen[A] Precinct ?–1788

Hanover[B] Precinct 1772–1788 (Montgomery after 1782)

Montgomery[C] 1788

Crawford[A] 1823

Hamptonburgh[A] 1830

Wallkill[B] Precinct 1743–1788[12]

New Windsor[B] Precinct 1763–1788

New Windsor[C] 1788

Highlands[B] Precinct 1709[12]–1763

Newburgh[B] Precinct 1763–1788

Newburgh[C] 1788

Newburgh[A] City 1865[15]

For further descendants see Ulster County section [B]

Wallkill[C] 1788

Middletown[C] City 1888[16]

Wawayanda[A] 1849

Minisink[A] 1788[2]

Greenville[A] 1853

Calhoun[A] 1825 (Mount Hope from 1833)

Mamakating[B] 1788[2]

Deerpark[A] 1798

Port Jervis[A] City 1907[17]

Notes

[A] = A part of Orange County.

[B] = A part of Ulster County.

[C] = A part of Ulster County until 1799, thereafter Orange County.

• In 1863 the Orange County Board of Supervisors erected two new towns from part of Monroe, named Highlands and Southfield. This was declared overruled by the state legislature in 1865 and therefore those towns are not shown here.^[18]

Rockland County

Rockland County, with town and village boundaries

Haverstraw[B] Precinct 1719–1788

Haverstraw[C] 1788

New Hampstead[A] 1791 (Ramapo from 1791)

Clarkstown[A] 1791

Orangetown[C] 1788[2]

Stony Point[A] 1865[19]

Notes

[A] = A part of Rockland County.

[B] = A part of Orange County.

[C] = A part of Orange County until 1799, thereafter Rockland County.

See also

• Timeline of town creation in Downstate New York
• Timeline of town creation in New York's Capital District
• Timeline of town creation in Central New York

Citations

1. "Senate House State Historic Site". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
2. Laws of the State of New York Passed at the Sessions of the Legislature Held in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787 and 1788, inclusive, Being the Eight, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh, sessions. II. Weed, Parsons and Company/State of New York. 1886. p. 748. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
3. French 1860, p. 267.
4. "New York County Maps and Atlases". Genealogy, Inc. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
5. "Governmental Units". Deitz, John B. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
6. The Colonial Laws of the State of New York From 1664 to the Revolution, Including the Charters to the Duke of York, the Commissions and Instructions to the Colonial Governors, the Duke's Laws, the Laws of Dongan and Leisler Assemblies, the Charters of Albany and New York and the Acts of the Colonial Legislatures from 1691 to 1775 Inclusive. V. James B. Lyon (State of New York). 1894. p. 383 and 395. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
7. The Colonial Laws of the State of New York From 1664 to the Revolution, Including the Charters to the Duke of York, the Commissions and Instructions to the Colonial Governors, the Duke's Laws, the Laws of Dongan and Leisler Assemblies, the Charters of Albany and New York and the Acts of the Colonial Legislatures from 1691 to 1775 Inclusive. II. John B. Lyon. 1894. p. 956.
8. Howell, George Rogers; Munsell, John H. (1886). History of the County of Schenectady, N.Y., from 1662 to 1886. W.W. Munsell & Company.
9. "Local Government Handbook" (PDF) (5th ed.). New York State Department of State. 2008. pp. 60 (PDF 64). Retrieved 2010-10-05.
10. "Dutchess County Communities". Dutchess County Genealogical Society. 2006. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
11. Schoonmaker, Marius (1888). The History of Kingston, New York from its Early Settlement to the Year 1820. Burr Printing Press. p. 59.
12. Clearwater, Alphonso T. (2007). The History of Ulster County, New York. 1. Heritage Books, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7884-1943-0.
13. New International Encyclopedia. XIII. Dodd, Mead and Company. 1915. p. 254.
14. Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred and Thirteenth Session of the Legislature, Begun January Sixth, 1890, and Ended May Ninth, 1890, in the City of Albany. Banks & Brothers/State of New York. 1890. p. 1246.
15. Reamy, Martha and Bill (2007). Pioneer Families of Orange County. Heritage Books, Inc. ISBN 978-1-58549-601-3.
16. Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred and Eleventh Session of the Legislature, Begun January Fourth, and Ended May Eleventh, 1888, Also, Laws Passed at the Extraordinary Session, July Seventeenth to Twentieth, 1888, in the City of Albany. Banks & Brothers/State of New York. 1888. p. 825.
17. Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred Thirtieth Session of the Legislature, Begun January Second, 1907, and Ended June Twenty-Sixth, 1907, in the City of Albany, and Including Extraordinary Session, Begun July Eighth, 1907, and Ended July Twenty-Sixth, 1907. II. J.B. Lyon Company/State of New York. 1907. p. 2114.
18. Freeland, Daniel Niles (1898). Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Times. The De Vinne Press.
19. "Town History". Stony Point, New York. Retrieved 2010-09-23.

References

• French, John H. (1860). Gazetteer of the State of New York. Syracuse, NY: R. Pearsall Smith. OCLC 299184938.