Town History
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Town ofWappin2er
Wappinger although the youngest and smallest town in Dutchess
County was industrially and in point of population and wealth; one of
the most important. This town was also connected quite dramatically
with some of the earliest and most interesting episodes in the history of
Dutchess County.
On February 8, 1682; a license was issued to allow the purchase of
lands from theWappinger Indians whose name still remains as the name
of our town. The Wappinger Indians were known to be peaceful and
got along very well with the white people who came to these shores from
across the Atlantic Ocean. They were members of the Eastern
Woodlands tribes, which populated the eastern coast of our country
from New England down to our southernmost state of Florida. The
Wappinger Indians were of the Lenape peoples, a part of the Alkonquin
tribe, which belonged to the Delaware Nation. The name of the tribe,
"Wapani" literally translated means "opossum", an animal that still
populates our area.
The three men who made the purchase of lands from the
Wappinger Indians were Francis Rombout, Gulian VerPlanck, and
Stephanus Van Cortlandt. You will find these names immortalized all
over Dutchess County. Please note that these gentlemen are all Dutch.
This very important piece of land was known as the Rombout Patent.
The town of Wappinger was carved from the Town of Fishkill on
May 20,1875. It lies along the West border of the county and is
bounded on the North by LaGrange, on the south by the Town of
Fishkill, on the East by Sprout Creek, and on the West by the
Wappinger Creek as well as the Hudson River. The highest point is
Mount Hope, which is a ~ mile south of Meyers Corners. Next to
Fishkill, it is the most populous town in Dutchess County.
The very first projected settlement in this area was at the mouth
of the Wappinger Creek when settlers from the Massachusetts Bay
Colony attempted to establish a settlement. However, the project had to
be abandoned because the access overland was too difficult and
permission to "right of passage" through the Hudson River was denied
by the Dutch authorities.
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The creek waters located within the village ofWappingers Falls
were the chief stimulus to the development and growth of this town
although the growth originally was primarily within the village. A mere
"s" stands between the village of Wappinger's Falls and the town of
Wappinger. The "s" in the name of the village simply shows possession
of the falls.
The first documented white settlers on the Wappinger side of the
Creek were the Brewer (spelled many different ways) brothers from
Holland. Nicholas and Adolphus built and operated two very
prosperous mills several years before the American Revolution. One
was a saw mill and the other was a four mill producing over 100 barrels
a day.
One prominent early settler of Wappinger was Peter Mesier, a
native of New Amsterdam who had fled France because of the bitter
persecutions of King Louis XIV against all Protestants. Peter Mesier
was a French Huguenot and had come to this country for religious
freedom. However, the reason that Peter Mesier had left New
Amsterdam to travel north was because he wanted to find a more
peaceful site to settle down. He was a British sympathizer, a Tory.
While in Wappingers Falls, however, he was not overwhelmingly
welcomed as is demonstrated in the "Wappingers Tea Party".
The Marquis DeChastellux wrote of our town in his diary while
passing through the area in December of 1780. The Marquis wrote
describing the falls in the village, " the view is beautiful and extended to
the creek and the fall of the Wapping." .....
During the Revolutionary War, the Town of Wappinger was
made memorable by the presence of portions of the American Army.
After 1787, a shipyard was established at the foot of McKinley Street in
the village and was able to accommodate vessels drawing up to 16 feet of
water. During the War of 1812, a shipyard was in very active operation
along the Wappinger Creek where many gunboats were being
constructed.
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Although Wappingers Falls was the hub of activities for the
surrounding area, it was not extremely concentrated populationwise.
The population of the town was spread out over a rather large area
most engaged in farming. The town of Wappinger was comprised of
many small hamlets, which because of distance and transportation of
the time had to be more or less self-sufficient. Each hamlet had it's own
one-room school, a blacksmith shop, post office and usually a hotel or
tavern perhaps even one church. The town was still largely a farming
community well into the 19th century. Many of these hamlets have
disappeared leaving only their names: Middlebush, Meyers Corners,
Hughsonville, New Hackensack, and Low Point also known as Chelsea.
Along Route 9 as we know it or the "King's Highway" as it was
originally known, one can still find milestone markers preserved. There
is one located on Rt. 9 between Wappingers and Fishkill. These
milestones were instituted by Benjamin Franklin to be used to
determine postage payment. At that time, the person receiving the
letter paid the postage, and it was figured out by way of these mile
markers.
During the 19th. Century (1800's), the Town of Wappinger was
still primarily agricultural with the largest village (Wappingers Falls)
very much a manufacturing center for all of Dutchess County.
Anyone who can trace their roots back within the Town of
Wappinger will find a varied experience with our settlers coming first
from Holland followed by England and France. Later immigrants came
from Ireland, Germany and Italy predominately although there were
other immigrants also.
Wappinger was and has remained very community-minded with
many parades and local celebrations in which all the organizations,
churches and societies would participate.
Prepared 11/11/02 for Wappinger Website
Credit Brenda Von Burg, daughter former Supervisor Louis Diehl
Longer more detailed version available*