New Paltz (town), New York
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
New Paltz is a town in Ulster County, New York, USA. The population was 12,830 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from Palz, the German dialect name of the Rhenish Palatinate, now a region of Germany called "Pfalz".
The Town of New Paltz contains a village also with the name New Paltz. The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston, New York.
The Mohonk Preserve and Mohonk Mountain House resort hotel are located near the western part of New Paltz, and have New Paltz mailing addresses.
[edit] History
The Town of New Paltz was founded in 1678 by both patent and purchase from the local natives. The first settlers were Huguenot refugees from Mannheim in the German Palatinate, who, settled around the present-day Village of New Paltz and established their own local government. The size of the town increased from surrounding regions in 1775 and 1809. In 1842, part of New Paltz was removed to form the Esopus. More of New Paltz was removed in order to form the Towns of Rosendale (1844), Lloyd (1845), and Gardiner (1853).
From the website of Historic Huguenot Street:
The Story of Huguenot Street
After decades of sojourn and relocation, a group of twelve French-speaking Huguenot refugees and their families linked by family, religion, and friendship purchased nearly 40,000 acres (160 km²) along the Wallkill River in the Hudson Valley from the native Esopus Indians, thus establishing a permanent home where they could pursue their Protestant faith free from religious and political persecution. They named the new town after die Pfalz, the region along the Rhine River where they had found temporary refuge before journeying to the new world.
The families began replacing their temporary homes in the early 1700s with stone houses along what is now known as Huguenot Street, seven of which survive today. The houses were added to over the first century or so of their existence to provide more comfortable living arrangements, and today the domestic environments of the colonial period and the early years of the Republic are preserved to inspire and to educate. While four of the houses are similar to their early appearance, the National Historic Landmark District also includes three original stone houses that were altered in the 1830s, the 1890s, and the 1940s, enabling three hundred years of history to be told on the street, displaying both continuity and change in American history.
Beginning in the 1899, these homes came into the possession of the Historic Huguenot Street with the generous assistance of its affiliated family associations, the members of which are descended from the original founders and early residents of the community. Today the houses are furnished with period and heirloom artifacts, many of which descended through the families. Through the preservation of this remarkable site, we have the opportunity to enjoy and investigate the origins and development of our distinctly American culture."
[edit] Education
New Paltz has 4 public schools, K-12 and is home to a college in the SUNY system.
- Duzine Elementary School (K-2)
- Lenape Elementary School (3-5)
- New Paltz Middle School (6-8)
- New Paltz High School (9-12).
- State University of New York at New Paltz
[edit] External links
- Town of New Paltz, NY
- Historic Huguenot Street
- Elting Memorial Library Digital Collections
- Elting Memorial Library (New Paltz)
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