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New Paltz History

Origin of Name:

New Paltz

    New Paltz is a unique name. It is probably the only New Paltz in the world. Many people outside the community can't get the name straight and spell it P-L-A-T-Z, which is a fine word in German, but that is not our Paltz.

The state historical marker in front of the Jean Hasbrouck Memorial House tells a little of the name's history.

DIE PFALZ
A FRENCH HUGUENOT VILLAGE GOVERNED BY THE DUZINE
A BODY OF MEN CHOSEN ANNUALLY,
FOR 200 YEARS THE ONLY FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

    Local tradition holds that Christian Deyo suggested the name. He, like the others of the Dusine, or Duzine (the spelling varies) left Mannheim, in what was then Die Pfalz or The Palatine region of Germany, in 1675. The name he gave was probably that found in the record of the first meeting of the New Paltz Reformed Church in 1683. That name is Nouveau Palatinat, French for New Paltz. Christian Deyo's French, his former home's German and the English governor's English were not the only languages spoken. The colony had belonged to the Dutch until less than ten years before.

    Marc Fried, who wrote the The Early History of Kingston and Ulster County, NY, surmises that the process started with the naming of the river, which is now the Wallkill but for a time was the Pals, or Palse River. Then, in the Documentary History of New York, we find a note to the English Governor Dongan perhaps misdated February 22, 1687, which refers to N. Palse and ye Paltz.

    There are good historical reasons for giving the name Pfalz the pronunciation "Paltz". That is still the way it is pronounced in Mannheim, the German city the settlers of New Paltz called home for a time.

    But we are still not at New Paltz. The deed of land to the French schoolmaster Jean Cottin, dated 1689, gives the name twice as palls with no capital, in the French fashion. And the will of Hugo Freer, another patentee, of 1697/8, calls it Palle and palle. Then, in the first formal subdivision of the lands of the patent in 1703, the conveyance to Louis Bevier gives the name, at last in English, as ye New Paltz and even the New Paltz.

This article is a condensed version of Alfred Marks' pamphlet, "New Paltz and the Pfalz".

History of New Paltz

     New Paltz was founded in 1677 by Calvinists who had taken refuge in what is now Mannheim, Germany for a few years before coming to America. Mannheim was then capital of the area known as the Rheinpfalz or Rhenish Palatine. The French name of the town was Nouveau Palatinat, as given in the founding record of the local Reformed Church in 1683.

     New Paltz was dominated for over 150 years by the 12 partners and their heirs, referred to as the Twelve Men or the Duzine--who had acquired the royal patent of over 33,000 acres, which stretched all the way from the Shawangunk Mountains to the Hudson River. More land was added, and eventually it was formally divided among the twelve partners, their relatives and some friends. Farms were primarily found east and west of the Wallkill River, which was called the Palse River at first.

     The twelve patentees were Louis DuBois and his sons Abraham and Isaac, Christian Deyo and his son Pierre, Simon and Andries LeFevre (brothers), Jean and Abraham Hasbrouck (brothers), Antoine Crispell, Louis Bevier, and Hugo Frere. Other families, with names like Elting, Schoonmaker, Terwilliger, Ean, and Schlecht, were part of the community from its earliest days. They built wooden homes that were later replaced by sturdy, stone structures. For 200 years after they first settled, New Paltz remained an isolated, small farming community. Farming, particularily of apples, is still one of New Paltz's largest businesses.

     The community was clustered on the east shore of the Wallkill River, which is today known as Huguenot Street. Many of the seventh century stone buildings still stand today and have been designated a National Historical Landmark, often referred to as "the oldest street in American in continuous state of habitation."

     The population slowly crept from the Wallkill up what is now Main Street and beyond. Areas which are now parts of the Towns of Lloyd, Shawangunk, Esopus and Gardiner split off from the Town of New Paltz between 1843 and 1853. The Village of New Paltz was incorporated in 1887.

     Higher education has always been of utmost importance, especially since 1833 when the New Paltz Academy was started and slowly metamorphosed into the State University of New York, College at New Paltz.

     The Walkill Valley Railroad was built in 1870 to help farmers get their crops to market faster. In the 1920's, the motor car started replacing the train and in the early 1950's, the New York State Thruway was built and brought New Paltz, as Exit 18, fully in touch with the world.

1785

  • March 31: The Town of New Paltz was incorporated.

1810

  • The first post office in New Paltz was established.

1862

  • January 23: Counterfeit five's on the Huguenot Bank were in circulation.
  • April 4: The first fire company was established in New Paltz.
  • July 18: New Paltz was called upon to furnish 20 recruits for the Army during the Civil War.
  • October 7: The Huguenot Fire Engine Company members received their uniforms.

1868

  • August 6: The New Paltz Academy was designated by the state to instruct Common School teachers for 1868 - 1869.

1870

  • The Mohonk Mountain House was opened by Albert, Alfred and Daniel Smiley. Mohonk is an Indian word for Lake of the Sky.

1877

  • New Paltz taxes increased by 300% due to the railroad debt and the Panic of 1873.

1884

  • The New Paltz Academy Building burned to the ground.

1889

  • April 3: A telephone was installed in the Normal School.
  • May 31: A policeman's salary was increased from $15 to $30 per year.
  • June 19: Almost $60 was raised for the Johnstown flood sufferers.
  • July 10: New Paltz had 14 regular trains daily, except on Sundays.
  • Putt Corners was named for Napolean Purdy who came from Putnam County.

1893

  • The population of the Village was about 1100.
  • March 24: The first electric lights lit up New Paltz's village streets.

1894

  • The Huguenot Historical Society was formed.

1895

  • October 9: The Duke of Marlboro passed through New Paltz on the way to Lake Mohonk.

1897

  • May 28: The riding of bicycles on sidewalks was prohibited.
  • August 20: The formal opening of the Trolley Line (the rails of which still peek through the roadbed of Main Street). There were four cars: The Mohonk, The Minnewaska, The New Paltz and The Highland.

1899

  • August 25: The Smileys have spent $100,000 in the past year to improve Lake Mohonk and the grounds. There is no liquor sold there and dancing and card-playing are banned.

1900

  • September 10: Town population reached 2,264

1904

  • June 11: Calvin Satterlee was appointed Truant Officer and less than a year later was also appointed Justice of the Peace (2/23/1905).

1905

  • April 3: It was decided that the first two telephones would be installed in New Paltz by the New York Toll Company.

1909

  • March 6: The New Paltz Free Library Association was formed.
  • July 19: The speed limit of motor vehicles was set at 10 miles per hour, with a fine of $10 to those violating the law.
  • April 21: The Huguenot Historical Society unveils its monument to the memory of the original 12 patentees.
  • Work on the aqueduct began.

1911

  • February 3: A New York State Supreme Court decided that married female teachers were not eligible for promotion and might be refused an appointment if their husbands were still able to earn a living.

1918

  • April 26: Trolley fares were increased between New Paltz and the Highland Landing from twenty cents to twenty five cents.
  • May 1: The cost of a haircut in New Paltz was set at thirty-five cents.

1919

  • August 25: Pontius Ahlberg was named police constable at a salary of $10 per month.

1920

  • May 6: A new autobus began, connecting New Paltz with the Highland Landing. The fare was sixty-five cents.
  • June 3: The 50th Anniversary Celebration of the opening of Lake Mohonk Mountain House was held.
  • October 10: The Elting Memorial Library building was dedicated.

1921

  • New York State built the first concrete road in Ulster County: the New Paltz Turnpike to Highland.

1923

  • April 28: The speed limit in the village for motor vehicles was set at 15 miles per hour.
  • June 7: The Governor signs a bill authorizing the construction of a bridge over the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie.
  • June 18: The Town Board voted to buy two voting machines.
  • July 20: Laura Varick deeded the land for a park to be known as The Jean Hasbrouck Memorial Park.
  • December 3: The electric light line was completed to Springtown Road.

1925

  • The electric light system passed to the control of Central Hudson Gas and Electric Company.
  • The trolley line was discontinued.

1926

  • April 24: The New Paltz Opera House opened to bring live vaudeville acts to New Paltz.

1927

  • A concern was raised regarding the increasing number of wildcats in the mountains near Lake Mohonk. Several very large ones had been caught recently in that area.

1929

  • July 30: The New Paltz Central School District was established.

1930

  • August 22: The automobile bridge, spanning the Hudson River, from Poughkeepsie to Highland opened. In attendance at the ceremonies were: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Governor of New York, Eleanor Roosevelt, former Governor Smith and others.

1932

  • April 25: Common laborers for the village were to be paid $.42 per hour.
  • October 28: Meat prices were advertised at:

1934

  • September: The formal opening of the New Paltz to Kingston concrete road was celebrated with a 12-mile procession.

1948

  • The State Teachers' College at New Paltz was incorporated into the State University of New York.

1964

  • Huguenot Street was designated a National Historic Monument. It is the oldest street in America.

1974

  • July: The Town Hall was relocated to Route 32 North.
Thanks to the Elting Memorial Library, the Haviland Collection, Bulletins # 3 - #7, for the above information.

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