Original Nine Towns of Dutchess

Life 200 Years Ago in the Original Nine Towns of Dutchess

Of the 20 present-day towns in Dutchess County, nine owe their status as towns to an act of the State Legislature passed on March 7, 1788 which created them out of the pre-existing precinct system. These towns were: Amenia, Beekman, Clinton, Fishkill, North East, Pawling, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck and Washington. To commemorate the bicentennial of these towns, the official town historians were invited to write "state of the town" articles describing life as it had existed there approximately two centuries earlier. Articles were forthcoming from all nine towns, written sometimes by the town historians and sometimes by their designates.

The date of March 7, 1788 did not have the same significance to all of the nine towns. Clinton actually chose to celebrate its bicentennial in 1986, two hundred years after the Clinton Precinct had been created out of the much larger Charlotte Precinct and named after George Clinton. Since the boundaries of the precinct and town were identical, it appeared to Clintonians that the Act of March 7, 1688 did little more than change the administrative nomenclature. However, the law of 1788 was a major step in drawing communities into a more uniform framework of local government within the state.

What is even more confusing is that the towns of 1788 did not have the same area and boundaries which they claim today. In most cases they were considerably larger. The historians of each town have made their own decision as to whether they would write about the town as defined by its original boundaries of 1788 or by its contemporary ones.

Amenia, as it was founded in 1788, had remained essentially as it was, although boundary adjustments with the town of Northeast were made in 1823.

Beekman, as it was created in 1788, contained parts of present-day Lagrange which were removed in 1821. When Unionvale was founded in 1827 most of its territory came from Beekman with a smaller portion coming from Lagrange.

The area of Clinton is much reduced from its original extent. In 1821 Hyde Park was carved out of its territory on the West, and Pleasant Valley was separated on the south.

The town of Fishkill has undergone many changes in its boundaries. In 1821 a portion was removed to help make up LaGrange. In 1849 there was a major reduction when the Town of East Fishkill broke away. In 1875 the Town of Wappinger was created out of Fishkill's northern territory in 1875. There was also an annexation; in 1806, before Putnam County separated from Dutchess, part of the Town of Philipstown was added to Fishkill.

North East at its founding in 1788 extended much farther west. The Town of Milan was subtracted in 1818 and Pine Plains in 1823. In 1823 there were also the boundary adjustments with Amenia mentioned above.

Pawling originally contained the territory of the Town of Dover which was separated from it in 1807.

The Town of Poughkeepsie in 1788 was identical in its boundaries to the Poughkeepsie Precinct of 1737. The enclave of the City of Poughkeepsie was subtracted in 1854.

Rhinebeck, as originally founded, also comprised the territory of Red Hook which established its own legal identity in 1812.

Conveniently, Washington was the only one of the nine townships of 1788 to retain its boundaries in their original form.

The Editors.