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Kinderhook, New York
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Kinderhook, New York
Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,330 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous municipality in Columbia County. The eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, was born in Kinderhook and retired to it.
The town of Kinderhook contains two villages, one of which is also named Kinderhook; the other is the village of Valatie. In addition, the town contains the hamlet of Niverville, next to Kinderhook Lake.
In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed as far north as Kinderhook on his exploration of the Hudson River and named the location "Kinderhoek". This means "children's corner" in Dutch, and is supposed to have been applied to this locality on account of the many Native American children who had assembled on one of the bluffs along the river to see his strange vessel (the Half Moon) sailing upstream. Hudson had mixed dealings with the local Mohican natives, ranging from peaceful trade to minor skirmishes. As the Dutch settled in the area, they were targeted by the natives for robbery and murder. Another version says that a Swede named Scherb, living in the forks of an Indian trail in the present town of Stuyvesant, had such a numerous family of children that the name of Kinderhook was used by the Dutch traders to designate that locality.[citation needed] A third theory about the town's name derives from a settler, named Frans Pietersz. Clauw, who operated a mill on the river and was known as the "child of luxury" (Dutch: Kind van Weelde).
Kinderhook was settled before 1651 and established as a town in 1788 from a previously created district (1772), but lost substantial territory to form part of the town of Chatham in 1775. Kinderhook was one of the original towns of Columbia County. More of Kinderhook was lost to form the town of Ghent in 1818 and the town of Stuyvesant in 1823.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 32.4 square miles (83.9 km2), of which 31.8 square miles (82.4 km2) is land and 0.62 square miles (1.6 km2), or 1.87%, is water, including Kinderhook Lake, Kinderhook Creek, and the waterfalls of Valatie.
The northern town line is the border of Rensselaer County.
Kinderhook Creek is an important stream in the town, flowing southwest toward tidal Stockport Creek, an arm of the Hudson River. U.S. Route 9 and New York State Route 9H pass through the town.
President Martin Van Buren's retirement home, Lindenwald, is in the town of Kinderhook. The Dutch Colonial Luykas Van Alen House, a National Historic Landmark (c.1737), is thought to be author Washington Irving's inspiration for the "Van Tassel family" farm in his classic story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", as Irving — a friend of Van Buren — was a frequent visitor and sometime resident of the area. The 19th-century rural Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse, named for the Washington Irving character patterned after Kinderhook schoolteacher, Jesse Merwin, is adjacent to the Van Alen House.
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Kinderhook, New York
Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,330 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous municipality in Columbia County. The eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, was born in Kinderhook and retired to it.
The town of Kinderhook contains two villages, one of which is also named Kinderhook; the other is the village of Valatie. In addition, the town contains the hamlet of Niverville, next to Kinderhook Lake.
In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed as far north as Kinderhook on his exploration of the Hudson River and named the location "Kinderhoek". This means "children's corner" in Dutch, and is supposed to have been applied to this locality on account of the many Native American children who had assembled on one of the bluffs along the river to see his strange vessel (the Half Moon) sailing upstream. Hudson had mixed dealings with the local Mohican natives, ranging from peaceful trade to minor skirmishes. As the Dutch settled in the area, they were targeted by the natives for robbery and murder. Another version says that a Swede named Scherb, living in the forks of an Indian trail in the present town of Stuyvesant, had such a numerous family of children that the name of Kinderhook was used by the Dutch traders to designate that locality.[citation needed] A third theory about the town's name derives from a settler, named Frans Pietersz. Clauw, who operated a mill on the river and was known as the "child of luxury" (Dutch: Kind van Weelde).
Kinderhook was settled before 1651 and established as a town in 1788 from a previously created district (1772), but lost substantial territory to form part of the town of Chatham in 1775. Kinderhook was one of the original towns of Columbia County. More of Kinderhook was lost to form the town of Ghent in 1818 and the town of Stuyvesant in 1823.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 32.4 square miles (83.9 km2), of which 31.8 square miles (82.4 km2) is land and 0.62 square miles (1.6 km2), or 1.87%, is water, including Kinderhook Lake, Kinderhook Creek, and the waterfalls of Valatie.
The northern town line is the border of Rensselaer County.
Kinderhook Creek is an important stream in the town, flowing southwest toward tidal Stockport Creek, an arm of the Hudson River. U.S. Route 9 and New York State Route 9H pass through the town.
President Martin Van Buren's retirement home, Lindenwald, is in the town of Kinderhook. The Dutch Colonial Luykas Van Alen House, a National Historic Landmark (c.1737), is thought to be author Washington Irving's inspiration for the "Van Tassel family" farm in his classic story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", as Irving — a friend of Van Buren — was a frequent visitor and sometime resident of the area. The 19th-century rural Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse, named for the Washington Irving character patterned after Kinderhook schoolteacher, Jesse Merwin, is adjacent to the Van Alen House.
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