Editing Wappinger, New York (section)

== History ==
The Wappinger were a confederacy of Native Americans whose territory, in the 17th century, was spread along the eastern shore of the [[Hudson River]]. Primarily based in what is now Dutchess County, their territory bordered [[Manhattan Island]] to the south, the [[Mahican]] territory bounded by the [[Roeliff Jansen Kill]] to the north,<ref name=proceedings>{{cite journal |last=Ruttenber |first=E.M.  |year=1906 |title=Footprints of the Red Men –- Indian Geographical Names in the Valley of Hudson's River, the Valley of the Mohawk, and on the Delaware: Their location and the probable meaning of some of them |journal=Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association - the Annual Meeting, with Constitution, By-Laws and List of Members |volume=7th Annual |page=40 (RA1-PA38) |publisher=New York State Historical Association |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3kSAAAAYAAJ&q=wapani&pg=RA1-PA38 |access-date=October 31, 2010}}</ref> and extended east into parts of [[Connecticut]].<ref name=americana>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia Americana|year=1920|page=256}}</ref>

They spoke an eastern-[[Algonquian languages|Algonkian]] language. Culturally they were closely related to the [[Lenape]] people (Delaware Indians) to the west and south of Wappinger lands, and also related to the Mahican people to their immediate north and to the [[Metoac]] peoples of [[Long Island]]. ''Wappinger'' means "easterner" in most Algonkian languages.<ref>[http://www.townofwappinger.us/history.html "History of the Town of Wappinger"]. Retrieved May 10, 2013.</ref>

The town of Wappinger, originally a part of the town of [[Fishkill (town), New York|Fishkill]], was formed on May 20, 1875, and lies wholly within the limits of the historic [[Rombout Patent]], granted in 1685. The geographical area of Wappinger was first illegally settled in 1659 by members of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]. Seeking religious freedom, they settled near the mouth of the [[Wappinger Creek]] until Dutch Authorities removed them months later.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} It wasn't until 1685 when Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck were the first to legally purchase 85,000 acres from the Wappinger This would later be known as the Rombout Patent. The patent covered the towns of [[Fishkill, New York|Fishkill]], [[East Fishkill]], Wappinger, the [[City of Beacon]], and parts of [[LaGrange, New York|LaGrange]] and [[Poughkeepsie (town), New York|Poughkeepsie]], these municipalities were once all a part of the [[Fishkill (town), New York|Town of Fishkill]]. Following the Rombout Patent, the first legal land purchase within the Town of Wappinger was in 1714 when Elias Van Benschoten purchased land and settled in the hamlet of New Hackensack. Following him were other families from [[Hackensack, New Jersey]].<ref name="clapp p633">[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028853327#page/n633/mode/2up Clapp, Clinton W., "The Town of Wappinger" in Hasbrouck's ''History of Dutchess County]</ref> The Town of Wappinger is made up of many small hamlets and communities and was primarily agricultural, while mills lined the creek in the Village of [[Wappingers Falls, New York|Wappingers Falls]]. Once the Town of Wappinger was officially created from the Town of Fishkill on May 20, 1875, it took another year to elect officials. The first meeting was held at the Brower Brother's Wagon Shop on Mill Street. The meetings of Town officials took place in the homes of the elected officials, whose jobs were mostly to maintain roadways and bridges.

===Historic districts===
* [[Wheeler Hill Historic District]] includes 49 contributing buildings, 15 contributing sites, and four contributing structures. It encompasses the estates of Obercreek, Elmhurst, Edge Hill, the former estates of Henry Suydam and William Crosby, and [[Carnwath Farms Historic Site & Park|Carnwath Farms]] that were developed between 1740 and 1940. Also included are two 18th century riverfront commercial structures, the Lent / Waldron Store, and Stone House at Farmer's Landing. Within this district, Wheeler Hill Road was once known as Rives Avenue or Hill, after Francis Rives who purchased the former Willis estate (Carnwath Farms) in 1870.<ref>[http://www.townofwappinger.us/pdf/Forms/Town%20Clerk/History/Historic%20Carnwath%20Farms.pdf "Historic Carnwath Farms", Town of Wappinger]</ref>
[[File:Village of Wappingers Falls.jpg|thumb|Village of Wappingers Falls Downtown Historic District]]
* The [[Wappingers Falls Historic District]] is in the center of the village of [[Wappingers Falls]], and was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1984. It is roughly centered along South Avenue, West Main Street and [[Wappinger Creek]]. It includes Mesier Park and many adjacent residential neighborhoods, roughly bounded by Elm, Park, Walker, Market and McKinley streets. Much of the district was built in the wake of the industrialization of [[Wappingers Falls]] in the 19th century, and its styles represent a cross-section of that century. The east and west sides of the village are connected by an 1884 stone arch bridge over the falls that replaced earlier wooden structures.

===Hamlets===
[[File:Downtown Chelsea, NY.jpg|thumb|right|Downtown Chelsea]]

* '''[[Chelsea, Dutchess County, New York|Chelsea]]''' – A hamlet in the southwestern part of the town near the [[Hudson River]], primarily residential. A marina is located on the river. In the northern section of the hamlet, there is a large pumping station used by the [[Delaware Aqueduct]] [[New York City]] water supply system during droughts to take water directly from the river. Chelsea was originally known as Low Point and derived its name from a low point of land extending into the river. It also served to distinguish it from the next hamlet north on the east bank of the river, once known as High Point, now [[New Hamburg, New York|New Hamburg]]. The hamlet was called Low Point until the completion of the [[Hudson River Railroad]]. At that time it was named Carthage. However, as mail was being misdirected to another [[Carthage, New York|Carthage in Jefferson County]], it was renamed Carthage Landing. In 1901, when the railroad built a new station, the name became Chelsea. The hamlet's post office was established in 1840 as Low Point. The current post office was the former 1875 district school.
* '''Diddell''' was a hamlet in the northeastern section of the town, just east of New Hackensack. By the 1800s [[Dutchess Rail Trail|the Maybrook Railroad]], which ran from [[Pawling (town), New York|Pawling]] to [[Poughkeepsie, New York|Poughkeepsie]], established a station here.<ref name=Turner/> This rail line has since become the [[Dutchess Rail Trail|William R. Steinhaus Dutchess Rail Trail]], with a trail-head at Diddell. In 2017 [[List of Governors of New York|Governor]] [[Andrew Cuomo]] announced the creation of the 750-mile [[Empire State Trail]] that runs from [[Manhattan]] to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], which passes through the Diddell hamlet of Wappinger.
* '''Hughsonville''' – A hamlet situated one mile south of [[Wappingers Falls, New York|Wappingers Falls]] and which derives its name from William Hughson, one of four brothers who emigrated from [[England]]. Dr. Walter Hughson was born in Hughsonville on October 31, 1816. He became a successful surgeon in the county and died of consumption on December 9, 1857.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hsYpAQAAMAAJ&dq=James+S.+Roy+wappingers&pg=PA763 Hasbrouck, Frank. "Medical Profession", ''The History of Dutchess County'', p. 543, Higginson Book Company, 1909]</ref> The Presbyterian Church of Hughsonville was erected in 1840. A post office was established there in 1847.<ref name=smith>[http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/james-h-james-hadden-smith/history-of-duchess-county-new-york--with-illustrations-and-biographical-sketch-272/page-101-history-of-duchess-county-new-york--with-illustrations-and-biographical-sketch-272.shtmlref Smith, James Hadden, ''History of Dutchess County with Illustrations and Biographical Sketch'', Syracuse, D. Mason & Co., 1882]</ref> The Hughsonville Fire Company traces its date of establishment to 1912.
* '''Middlebush''', situated approximately one mile south-east of [[Wappingers Falls]], was an early business center. A post office was located there in 1824 that also served residents of Chelsea. The first Baptist church in the town was organized there in 1782. Abm. Van Wyck deeded the Society a piece of land for a site for a church and burying ground. The old cemetery remains, southeast of the intersection of Middlebush Road and Sgt. Palmateer Way (Old Route 9). In 1830, that meeting house became the property of the Methodist church, and was used by them as a house of worship until the present Methodist church in Wappingers Falls was erected in 1869, when it was taken down and the material used in the construction of the barn and sheds connected with that church.<ref name=smith/> During the mid to late 19th century, Middlebush was known as Fowler House, named after Dr. Orson Fowler's [[octagon house]] that once stood on [[U.S. Route 9 in New York|Route 9]]. This hamlet has two schools, businesses, housing, and the Wappinger Town Hall.
* '''[[Myers Corner, New York|Myers Corners]]''', at the intersection of [[County Route 93 (Dutchess County, New York)|Myers Corners Road]] and [[County Route 94 (Dutchess County, New York)|All Angels Hill Road]] was named after John Myers of [[Holland]] and was mostly farm land but had a doctor, a school and a tavern.<ref name=smith/>
* '''[[New Hackensack, New York|New Hackensack]]''' – Johannes Schurrie was an early settler in the town. He came from [[Hackensack, New Jersey]], ''circa'' 1740, from which the hamlet derives its name.<ref name="clapp p633"/> Most of the early settlers were of Dutch and German descent.<ref name=turner>Turner, David ''Wappinger'', Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-7385-7559-9}}</ref> A portion of [[New York State Route 376|NYS route 376]] is known locally as New Hackensack Road. The Main Street was present day [[Route 376 (New York)|N.Y.S. Route 376]] and had a post office and several stores until the widening of the [[Hudson Valley Regional Airport]] in the early-mid-1900s.
* '''Swartwoutville''' is located at the southeastern section of town. Named after [[Jacobus Swartwout|General Jacobus Swartwout]].<ref name=Turner/> Historically important meeting place during the American Revolution. In 1760, Swartwout purchased 3,000 acres of land from Madam Brett and built his first home after his wedding to Aaltje Brinkerhoff, of Brinkerhoff, New York.[11] General [[George Washington]] was staying in Fishkill in October 1778. The headquarters of the commander-in-chief was then in the home of Captain John Brinkerhoff, father-in-law to Jacobus Swartwout, in a low stone home about midway on the highway between the settlement of Brinkerhoff and Swartwoutville. During this period Prussian-American General, Baron Frederick William Augustus de Steuben, had his headquarters at the neighboring homestead of Colonel Jacobus Swartwout, standing immediately south of his later residence at Swartwoutville. Others who visited and quartered at Jacobus Swartwout's homestead along with General Washington and [[Baron Von Stueben]] were, [[Marquis de Lafayette]] and, [[Israel Putnam]].

===Toponyms===
* All Angels' Hill – originally known as Mount Hope and then Underhill Road. In the 1850s, farmer William Marvin owned about {{convert|200|acre}} between the present Pye Lane and Myers Corners. His daughter Charlotte married New York doctor Anthony Underhill.<ref name=Turner>Turner, David. ''Wappinger'', Arcadia Publishing, {{ISBN|9780738575599}}</ref> In the mid-1800s, the Underhill family built a house on her father's land. Dr. Underhill died September 5, 1889.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0RVJvNGF6l0C&dq=dr.+anthony+underhill+wappingers+falls+ny&pg=PA142 Tower, Maria Bockee Carpenter. ''The Records of the Reformed Dutch Church of New Hackensack, Dutchess County, New York'', Genealogical Publishing Com, 2009, p. 142]{{ISBN|9780806351704}}</ref> In 1903 the property was purchased by [[All Angels' Church|All Angels Episcopal Church]] in [[Manhattan]] as part of its ministry to the poor. The church maintained All Angels' Farm, a forerunner of the [[Fresh Air Fund]].<ref>[http://www.allangelschurch.com/Groups/1000041399/All_Angels_Church/About/History/History.aspx A Brief History of All Angels Church]</ref>