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Stuyvesant is in the northwest corner of Columbia
County, bordered on the north by Rensselaer County, the east by the
Town of Kinderhook, the south by Stockport and the west by the
Hudson River.
Archaeological evidence demonstrates the Native
Americans were in partnership with the land along the river's edge
long before Henry Hudson made his exploration in 1609. They
fished the river, planted corn and pumpkin. Communication was
probably carried out by signal fires built on the shale hill above
the waters they named Muhheakunnuk, meaning "great waters or
sea-constantly ebbing and flowing."
In the mid-1700's local sloops, many belonging to
beaver fur traders, plied the river. Formerly known as
Kinderhook Landing, Stuyvesant became a separate township in 1823.
An agricultural community, several farms have
been handed down through successive generations of the same family.
A second principal waterway in the town is the Kinderhook Creek,
with its two-step natural waterfall at Stuyvesant Falls. Both sides
of the creek were claimed for paper and textile mills in the early
1800's.
Spectacular views of the upper and lower falls
can be viewed from the historic iron truss bridge in the hamlet that
spans the creek. The area at the north end of town became
known as Poolsburgh, named after the VanderPoel family who settled
there. They were instrumental in planning the course of the Farmer's
Turnpike (now Route 9J) which was charted in 1813.
Using the clay along the riverbank, brick-making
was an early local industry. Ice harvesting, another typical
Hudson River industry, provided a valuable service in the
pre-electric refrigeration days. Stuyvesant had as many as four
large icehouses along its more than nine miles of shoreline.
Docking sites varied over the years following the natural changes of
the river channel. Freight sloops made trips to New York City as
early as 1820. In 1836, the Kinderhook Stuyvesant Steamboat
Association formed.
Farmers as distant as Albany and Pittsfield, MA,
used the Stuyvesant docks to ship and receive produce and goods.
A ferry service that ran until 1938 was
established between Newton Hook and Coxsackie in 1820.
The Hudson River Railroad Company laid track along the east shore of
the river in 1850, forever changing access to this neighboring
waterway. Stuyvesant had freight and passenger service through the
World War II years.
Stuyvesant Falls had rail service from 1891 to
1929. At first powered by steam, the railroad was electrified by the
turn of the century and extended to Albany. The power that operated
the third rail for the Albany & Southern Railway Company was
generated at Stuyvesant Falls.
Today, just over 2,000 people call Stuyvesant
home. Community pride is reflected by many active volunteer groups
and celebrated yearly on Historic Stuyvesant Day held the second
Saturday of August |
