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Dutchess County is a
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...
is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organized in 1713. It is located in the Mid-Hudson Region of the
Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
, north of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Dutchess County is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area, which belongs to the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.


History

Before Anglo- Dutch settlement, what is today Dutchess County was a leading center for the indigenous Wappinger peoples. They had their council-fire at what is now
Fishkill Hook East Fishkill is a Town (New York), town on the southern border of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 29,707 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town was once the ...
, and had settlements throughout the area. On November 1, 1683, the
Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
established its first twelve counties, including Dutchess. Its boundaries at that time included the present Putnam County, and a small portion of the present Columbia County (the towns of Clermont and Germantown). The county was named for Mary of Modena, Duchess of York; ' is an archaic spelling of the word '' duchess''. The Province of New York and the Connecticut Colony negotiated an agreement on November 28, 1683, establishing their border as east of the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
, north to
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. The east of the Byram River making up the
Connecticut Panhandle The Connecticut panhandle is the southwestern appendage of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State. It is contained entirely in Fairfield County and includes all of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien, as well as parts of Norwal ...
were granted to Connecticut, in recognition of the wishes of the residents. In exchange, Rye was granted to New York, along with a wide strip of land running north from Ridgefield to Massachusetts alongside the New York counties of Westchester, Putnam then Dutchess, known as "
The Oblong The Connecticut panhandle is the southwestern appendage of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State. It is contained entirely in Fairfield County and includes all of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien, as well as parts of Norwal ...
". The eastern half of the stub of land in northeast Dutchess County containing Rudd Pond and
Taconic State Park Taconic State Park is located in Columbia and Dutchess County, New York abutting Massachusetts and Connecticut within the Taconic Mountains. The state park is located off New York State Route 344 south of Interstate 90 and north of New York City ...
is the northernmost extension of The Oblong. Until 1713, Dutchess was administered by Ulster County. On October 23, 1713, Queen Anne gave permission for Dutchess County to elect its own officers from among their own population, including a supervisor, tax collector, tax assessor and treasurer. In 2013, Dutchess County celebrated its 300th anniversary of democracy based upon a legislative resolution sponsored by County Legislator Michael Kelsey from Salt Point. In 1812, Putnam County was detached from Dutchess.


The Patents

Fourteen royal land patents were granted between 1685 and 1706 covering the entirety of the original footprint of Dutchess County (which until 1812 included today's Putnam County). The first ten, granted between 1685 and 1697, covered almost all of
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
shoreline in the original county, with three - Rombouts, the Great Nine Partners, and Philipse Patents - extending significantly inland. The eleventh, and smallest, Cuyler, 1697, was the first to contain solely inland territory, just in from the Hudson. The twelfth, and next smallest, Fauconnier, in 1705, completed the Hudson River shoreline. The last two, Beekman, 1705, and the Little Nine Partners, 1706, laid claim to the remaining interior lands. # 1685 Rombout (Beacon/Fishkill Area) # 1686 Minnisinck (Sanders & Harmense) # 1686
Kip Kip, KIP or kips may refer to: Athletics * Kip (artistic gymnastics), a basic skill on the women's uneven bars * Kip (trampolining), a coaching skill used in trampolining * Kip-up, an acrobatic manoeuvre used in martial arts and gymnastics People ...
# 1688 Schuyler (Poughkeepsie) # 1688 Schuyler (Red Hook) # 1688 Ærtsen-Roosa-Elton # 1696 Pawling-Staats # 1697 Rhinebeck # 1697 (Great) Nine Partners # 1697 Philipse # 1697 Cuyler # 1705 Fauconnier # 1705 Beekman (Back Lots) # 1706 (Little) Nine Partners


Early settlement

From 1683 to 1715, most of the settlers in Dutchess County were Dutch. Many of these moved in from Albany and Ulster counties. They settled along the
Fishkill Creek Fishkill Creek (also Fish Kill, from the Dutch ''vis kille'', for "fish creek") is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataT ...
and in the areas that are now Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck. From 1715 to 1730, most of the new settlers in Dutchess county were Germans. From 1730 until 1775, New Englanders were the primary new settlers in Dutchess County.


20th century

Franklin D. Roosevelt lived in his family home in Hyde Park, overlooking the Hudson River. His family's home is now the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, managed by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...
. Prior to the 1960s, Dutchess County was primarily agricultural. Since then the southwestern part (from Poughkeepsie southward and from the Taconic State Parkway westward) of the county has developed into a largely residential area, suburban in character, with many of its residents commuting to jobs in New York City and Westchester County. The northern and eastern regions of the county remain rural with large farmlands but at the same time developed residences used during the summer and or on weekends by people living in the New York City urban area.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.6%) is water. Dutchess County is located in southeastern New York State, between the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
on its west and the New York
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
border on its east, about halfway between the cities of Albany and New York City. It contains two cities: Beacon and Poughkeepsie. Depending on precise location within the county, road travel distance to New York City ranges between and . The terrain of the county is mostly hilly, especially in the Hudson Highlands in the southwestern corner and the Taconic Mountains to the northeast. Some areas nearer the river are flatter. The highest point in the county is the summit of
Brace Mountain Brace Mountain is the peak of a ridge in the southern Taconic Mountains, near the tripoint of the U.S. states of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Its main summit is located in New York; it is the highest point in that state's Dutchess ...
, in the Taconics, at 2,311 feet (704 m) above sea level. The lowest point is sea level, along the Hudson River. The highest point of neighboring Fairfield County, Connecticut, is a point along the state line in Pawling.
Wappinger Creek Wappinger Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 creek which runs from Thompson Pond to the Hudson River at New Hamburg in Dutchess County, New York, ...
, at from its source at
Thompson Pond Thompson Pond in Pine Plains, New York is a 15,000-year-old glacial kettle pond at the foot of Stissing Mountain. It is the source of Wappinger Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River that drains much of Dutchess County. The pond and mountain ...
in Pine Plains to where it drains into the Hudson at New Hamburg, is the longest stream in the county. Its watershed is likewise the largest in the county. To its south is the watershed of Dutchess County's second-longest stream,
Fishkill Creek Fishkill Creek (also Fish Kill, from the Dutch ''vis kille'', for "fish creek") is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataT ...
, part of which spills over into Putnam County. Within that watershed are the county's third-longest stream,
Sprout Creek Sprout Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 creek located entirely within Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is the largest tributary of F ...
, and its largest, deepest and highest lakes:
Whaley Whaley is a small village in Derbyshire, England, located one mile from Whaley Thorns, 1½ miles from Elmton, 1½ miles from Langwith and 2½ miles from Bolsover. The village has a garage and a former watermill, now a home, of which the lar ...
(), in the town of Pawling; Sylvan () in the town of Beekman and Beacon Reservoir, in the town of Fishkill, at respectively. Other, smaller tributaries of the Hudson such as the Saw Kill drain the northwestern portion of the county. The southeastern fringe of Dutchess is part of the upper
Croton River watershed ''This page is about the Croton River watershed, a hydrological feature. For the component of the New York City water supply system with a similar name, see'' Croton Watershed The Croton River watershed is the drainage basin of the Croton River ...
and thus part of the New York City water supply system. On the east, in the Oblong, streams drain into the Housatonic River in adjacent Connecticut. A border nearly one-half mile (800 m) long exists with Berkshire County, Massachusetts, in the extreme northern end of the county.


Adjacent counties

* Columbia County – north * Berkshire County, Massachusetts – northeast * Litchfield County, Connecticut – east * Fairfield County, Connecticut – southeast * Putnam County – south * Orange County – southwest * Ulster County – west


National protected areas

* Appalachian Trail, crosses county from Putnam County line in East Fishkill to Connecticut state line near Wingdale; corridor is partly on federally protected land. * Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site * Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge, one of six discontiguous parcels in Dover * Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site *
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site is a historic house museum in Hyde Park, New York. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1940. It is owned and operated by the National Park Service. The property, historically known as Hyde Park, wa ...


State, county, and town parks

*
Bowdoin County Park Bowdoin may refer to: * Bowdoin, Maine, a town * Bowdoin College, a college in Brunswick, Maine * Bowdoin Street, a street in Boston, Massachusetts ** Bowdoin (MBTA station) * Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, a wildlife refuge in Montana * ''Bowdo ...
*
Fahnestock State Park Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park, also known as Fahnestock State Park, is a state park located in Putnam and Dutchess counties, New York. The park has hiking trails, a beach on Canopus Lake, and fishing on four ponds and two lakes. Spann ...
(shared with Putnam County) *
Hudson Highlands State Park Hudson Highlands State Park is a non-contiguous state park in the U.S. state of New York, located on the east side of the Hudson River. The park runs from Peekskill in Westchester County, through Putnam County, to Beacon in Dutchess County, in ...
(shared with Putnam and Westchester counties) * Stratt Town Park * Wilcox County Park * Tymor Forest *
Taconic State Park Taconic State Park is located in Columbia and Dutchess County, New York abutting Massachusetts and Connecticut within the Taconic Mountains. The state park is located off New York State Route 344 south of Interstate 90 and north of New York City ...
*
Beekman Rec Beekman is a Dutch language, Dutch toponymic surname, literally translating as "creek man". Variant forms are ''Beeckman'' and ''Beekmans''. The Estonian poet Vladimir Beekman's family originally carried the name ''Peekmann''. People with the surnam ...
* East Fishkill Rec *
James Baird State Park James Baird State Park is a state park in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The park is located in the northern part of the Town of LaGrange, east of City of Poughkeepsie. History The park is named after James Baird (engineer and pre ...
* Poughkeepsie Bridge (Walkway over the Hudson) * Dover Stone Church * Carnwath Farms Historic Site & Park * Roosevelt Farm Lane *
Stony Kill Farm Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center is located on NY 9D in the Town of Fishkill, New York, United States. It is a 1,000+ acre (3 km2) working farm owned and operated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as ...
* MillsNorrie State Park *
Staatsburgh State Historic Site The Staatsburgh State Historic Site preserves a Beaux-Arts mansion designed by McKim, Mead, and White and the home's surrounding landscape in the hamlet of Staatsburg, Dutchess County, New York, United States. The historic site is located withi ...
* Tivoli Bays Unique Area


Privately protected open space

*
Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum The Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum (1,924 acres; 7.7 km²) is a nonprofit arboretum located on U.S. Route 44 near Millbrook, New York. It is operated by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and open to the public without an admission fee. T ...
* Ferncliff Forest * Innisfree Garden *
Pawling Nature Preserve The Pawling Nature Reserve is located in the northern section of the Town of Pawling, New York, United States. It is a area located along the top of Hammersby Ridge, near Quaker Lake owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. Acquired in 1958 ...
*
Poets' Walk Park Poets' Walk is located in Red Hook, New York, United States on the River Road (just north of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, New York State Route 199). It is intended to celebrate the connection between landscape and poetry. The classic wooden vist ...
*
Thompson Pond Thompson Pond in Pine Plains, New York is a 15,000-year-old glacial kettle pond at the foot of Stissing Mountain. It is the source of Wappinger Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River that drains much of Dutchess County. The pond and mountain ...
and neighboring Stissing Mountain


Demographics


2020 census


2000 census

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2000, there were 280,150 people, 99,536 households, and 69,177 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 106,103 housing units at an average density of 132 per square mile (51/km2). 22.0% of the population was of Italian, 16.9% Irish, 11.3% German and 6.7% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 88.3% spoke English and 4.8% spoke Spanish. Based on the Census Ancestry tallies, including people who listed more than one ancestry, Italians were the largest group in Dutchess County with 60,645. Irish came in a very close second at 59,991. In third place were the 44,915 Germans who barely exceeded the 44,078 people not in the 105 specifically delineated ancestry groups. There were 99,536 households, out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.5% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.16. As of Q4 2021, the median home value in Dutchess County was $365,199, an increase of 13.8% from the prior year. In the county, the age distribution of the population shows 25.1% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males. The median income for a household in the county was $53,086, and the median income for a family was $63,254. Males had a median income of $45,576 versus $30,706 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the county was $23,940. About 5.0% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over. The decrease in population between 1810 and 1820 was due to the separation of Putnam County from Dutchess in 1812.


Racial demographics

As of 2017, the residents of Dutchess County were reported as the following: American Indian and Alaska Native (0.04%), Asian (4%), Black or African American (8.5%), Hispanic or Latino (12.5%), Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (0.016%), Some Other Race (0.35%), Two or More Races (3%), White (71%).


Government

Dutchess County has a Charter Government with a County Executive and directly elected legislature of 25 members, each elected from a single member district. The Charter form of Government went in to effect in 1968 given the favorable outcome of a 1967 special election dedicated to the question. From 1713 until 1967, the County Government had been managed by a Board of Supervisors, made up of the locally elected leaders.


Elections

The composition of the County Legislature is 16 Republicans, 8 Democrats and 1 Conservative for the 2021–2023 term. County elections occur in odd-numbered years. Historically, Dutchess County, like most of the lower Hudson, was classic "Yankee Republican" territory. Between 1884 and 2004, the Republican presidential candidate carried Dutchess County in 28 out of 30 elections (1964 and 1996 being exceptions). As a measure of how Republican the county was during this time, Hyde Park resident Franklin D. Roosevelt lost Dutchess County (but won New York) during his four successful bids for president. The Republican edge narrowed significantly in the 1990s, with George H. W. Bush going from 61 percent of the county's vote in 1988 to only 40.5 percent in 1992, although that likely was affected by the presence of Ross Perot on the ballot as a third-party candidate. In 2008,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
became only the third Democrat to carry the county since 1884, and the first to win a majority since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. It has gone for the Democratic candidate in four consecutive elections (2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020). Dutchess County is split between two congressional districts. The more populated southern portion is in the 18th district, represented by Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney. The northern portion is in the 19th district, represented by Democrat Pat Ryan. These are considered "swing" districts nationally, with
Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...
ratings of R+1 and R+2, respectively, as of 2019.


Law enforcement

The Cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie; Towns of Fishkill, Hyde Park, Pine Plains, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, and East Fishkill; and Villages of Millerton, Wappingers Falls, Millbrook, have their own Police departments. The remainder of the county is patrolled by the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office and New York State Police. The New York State Police Troop K headquarters is located in Millbrook.


Communities

N.B.: Cities, Towns and Villages are official political designations.


Cities

* Beacon * Poughkeepsie (county seat)


Towns

* Amenia * Beekman * Clinton * Dover * East Fishkill * Fishkill * Hyde Park * La Grange *
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
*
North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...
* Pawling * Pine Plains * Pleasant Valley * Poughkeepsie * Red Hook * Rhinebeck * Stanford * Union Vale * Wappinger *
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...


Villages

* Fishkill * Millbrook * Millerton * Pawling * Red Hook * Rhinebeck *
Tivoli Tivoli may refer to: * Tivoli, Lazio, a town in Lazio, Italy, known for historic sites; the inspiration for other places named Tivoli Buildings * Tivoli (Baltimore, Maryland), a mansion built about 1855 * Tivoli Building (Cheyenne, Wyoming), ...
* Wappingers Falls


Census-designated places

* Amenia * Arlington * Bard College * Barrytown * Brinckerhoff * Chelsea Cove * Crown Heights *
Dover Plains Dover Plains is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 1,323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...
* Fairview * Freedom Plains * Haviland * Hillside Lake * Hopewell Junction * Hyde Park * MacDonnell Heights * Marist College * Merritt Park * Myers Corner * New Hackensack * New Hamburg * Pine Plains * Pleasant Valley * Red Oaks Mill * Rhinecliff * Salt Point * Shorehaven * Spackenkill * Staatsburg * Titusville * Upper Red Hook * Vassar College * Wassaic * Wingdale


Hamlets

*
Annandale-on-Hudson Annandale-on-Hudson is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States, located in the Hudson Valley town of Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston, New York, Kingston. The hamlet consists main ...
* Arthursburg * Attlebury * Bangall * Barnegat * Castle Point * De Witt Mills * Fishkill Plains * Glenham * Gretna * Holmes * Hopewell Junction * Hortontown * Hughsonville * Johnsontown * Knapps Corner * Lithgow * Lomala * Mabbettsville *
McIntyre McIntyre, McEntire, MacIntyre, McAteer, and McIntire are Scottish and Irish surnames derived from the Gaelic ' literally meaning "Son of the Craftsman or Mason", but more commonly cited as "son of the Carpenter."Scottish Clans: MacIntyre - Origin o ...
* Millbrook * Norrie Heights * Pecksville * Pleasant Plains * Poughquag * Quaker Hill * Rudco * Shenandoah *
Shekomeko Shekomeko (41°55'41"N 73°35'58"W) was a historic hamlet in the southwestern part of the town of North East, New York, United States) in present-day Dutchess County. It was a village of the Mahican people. They lived by a stream which Anglo-Am ...
* Staatsburg * Stanfordville * Stissing * Stormville * Swartwoutville * Van Keurens * Verbank *
Wiccopee East Fishkill is a town on the southern border of Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 29,707 at the 2020 census. The town was once the eastern portion of the town of Fishkill. Hudson Valley Research Park is located in th ...
* Willow Brook


Education


Public school districts

* Arlington Central School District * Beacon City School District *
Dover Union Free School District Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidston ...
* Hyde Park Central School District *
Millbrook Central School District Millbrook may refer to: Geographic places Australia * Millbrook, Victoria Canada * Millbrook First Nation, including the community ''Millbrook 27'', Nova Scotia * Millbrook, Ontario New Zealand * Millbrook Resort, a luxury resort near Queensto ...
* Pawling Central School District * Pine Plains Central School District * Poughkeepsie City School District * Red Hook Central School District * Rhinebeck Central School District * Spackenkill Union Free School District *
Wappingers Central School District Wappingers Central School District (WCSD) is a school district headquartered in the town of East Fishkill, New York, on Corporate Park Drive. History On November 30, 1937, in the southern portion of Dutchess County, New York, there was a meeting ...
* Webutuck Central School District * Dutchess County BOCES


Private schools

*
Dutchess Day School Millbrook is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Millbrook is located in the Hudson Valley, on the east side of the Hudson River, north of New York City. Millbrook is near the center of the town of Washington, of which it is a ...
*
Hawk Meadow Montessori School Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...
* Holy Trinity School * Millbrook School * Oakwood Friends School * Our Lady of Lourdes High School * Poughkeepsie Day School * Randolph School * St. Denis-St. Columba School * St. Martin de Porres School * St. Mary School - Fishkill *
Trinity-Pawling School Trinity-Pawling School, founded in 1907, is an independent college and preparatory boarding school for boys from 7th grade to 12th grade. The 230 acre campus is situated in Pawling, New York, a small hamlet in southern Dutchess County. It is l ...
*
Tabernacle Christian Academy According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
*
Upton Lake Christian School Upton may refer to: Places United Kingdom England * Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974) * Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury * Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough * Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambrid ...


Higher education

* Bard College (
Annandale-on-Hudson Annandale-on-Hudson is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States, located in the Hudson Valley town of Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston, New York, Kingston. The hamlet consists main ...
) * Culinary Institute of America main campus ( Hyde Park) * Dutchess Community College ( Poughkeepsie) * Marist College ( Poughkeepsie) * Vassar College ( Poughkeepsie)


Transportation


Roads

* Interstate 84 traverses the county in an east–west route cutting through the southwestern quadrant of the county before entering Putnam County. It is the only interstate highway in the county. * US 9, the Taconic State Parkway (the only other limited-access road in the county besides I-84, although it still has some at-grade intersections), and NY 22 are the main north–south roads in the county. For much of its length the Taconic is paralleled by NY 82. NY 9G leaves US 9 in Poughkeepsie and parallels it north to the Columbia County line. *
US 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonkson ...
, NY 52, NY 55, and NY 199 are the other primary east–west roads in the county. NY 52 enters the county concurrent with I-84, leaves it at Fishkill but then follows it into Putnam County.


Crossings

Three spans cross the Hudson River, linking Dutchess with Orange, Ulster, and Greene Counties: * The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge carries Interstate 84 and NY 52 between Fishkill/Beacon and Newburgh (Orange County). The westbound span opened in 1963 and the eastbound span opened in 1980. * The Mid-Hudson Bridge carries US 44 and NY 55 between Poughkeepsie and Highland ( Town of Lloyd, Ulster County) * The Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge carries NY 199 between Rhinebeck and Kingston (Ulster County)


Railroads

The
Metro-North Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority_of_the__is_a_type_of_Nonprofit_organization">nonprofit_corporation_char ...
railroad provides a critical link to New York City for Dutchess County's commuting population. The Hudson Line and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
run concurrently along the Hudson River, on the western edge of the county. The Hudson Line has stops at Breakneck Ridge, Beacon, and New Hamburg (a hamlet of the town of Poughkeepsie) before the Hudson Line terminates at Poughkeepsie. The tracks continue north of that point as Amtrak, with Poughkeepsie and Rhinecliff (a small hamlet in the Town of Rhinebeck) being stops along Amtrak's Empire Service. The Harlem Line, on the eastern side of the county, has station stops in Pawling, along the Appalachian Trail, Wingdale,
Dover Plains Dover Plains is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 1,323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...
, and two stops in Wassaic (one along the Tenmile River and the other the namesake terminus of that line).


Buses and ferries

Public transportation in Dutchess County is handled by
Dutchess County Public Transit The Dutchess County Public Transit is the bus service provided by the Dutchess County Division of Public Transit in Dutchess County, New York. Dutchess County Public Transit provides a variety of bus services throughout Dutchess County ranging fro ...
, commonly called "the LOOP." Outside of the urbanized area of the county, most service is limited. Privately run lines connect Poughkeepsie to New Paltz and Beacon to Newburgh.
Leprechaun Lines Leprechaun Lines is a private bus company headquartered in New Windsor, New York. The company uses a fleet of coach-style buses to provide charter functions and a variety of services. Two local routes run through Newburgh, connecting major shopp ...
and Short Line Bus also operate some service through Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, and the southern part of the county. NY Waterway operates the Newburgh–Beacon Ferry, which is located at the Beacon train station.


Air

General aviation facilities are located at Hudson Valley Regional Airport (formerly Dutchess County Airport), located in Wappinger and Sky Park Airport in
Red Hook, New York Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 9,953 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 11,319 in 2010. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Huds ...
. General commercial passenger service is provided by New York Stewart International Airport, which is located across the Hudson River in Newburgh.


Culture

Dutchess County holds an annual county fair. The County Chamber of Commerce holds an annual hot air balloon launch typically in the first week of July. The main launch sites are along the Hudson River. As many as 20 balloons participate in the event. The
Dutchess County Historical Society Dutchess County Historical Society, located in Poughkeepsie, New York, was formed in Pleasant Valley, New York May 26, 1914 and received its Charter from the Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1918. Its mission is to discover, ...
was formed in 1914 and is active in the preservation of a large collection at the 18th century Clinton House. The Society has published a yearbook since 1914 and presents up to four awards of merit in the field of Dutchess County history each year.


Media

Dutchess County has no locally based television stations. Its only news radio format station is WKIP (AM) of Poughkeepsie. WRHV is an NPR affiliated broadcasting out of Poughkeepsie. The country music format station, WRWB-FM, broadcasting across the Hudson River, can be reached in much of the county. '' Poughkeepsie Journal'' is published in that city. ''Vassar Miscellany News,'' associated with Vassar College, is published weekly. Also published in the county is the ''Beacon Free Press''/''Southern Dutchess News.''


Health

The county is home to Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck. MidHudson Regional Hospital (formerly St. Francis) and Vassar Brothers Medical Center are both in Poughkeepsie. The Castle Point Veterans Health Administration is in Wappinger. On March 11, 2020, the county's first case of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
was confirmed. As of June 2021, there had been 29,483 cases and 445 deaths. There are under 100 active cases and 56.8% of residents received at least one vaccine dose.


Sports

The Hudson Valley Renegades are a minor league baseball team affiliated with the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
. The team is a member of the High-A East, and play at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill. The
Hudson Valley Bears The Hudson Valley Bears were an ice hockey team in the Eastern Professional Hockey League. They split their home games between the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York and thIce Time Sports Complexin Newburgh, New York. History 20 ...
were one of four founding members of the Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL). They played their home games at the
Mid-Hudson Civic Center Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center (formerly the Mid-Hudson Civic Center) is a venue located in Poughkeepsie, New York, consisting of Mair Hall (a concert and convention hall) and the McCann Ice Arena (an ice skating venue). It was built in th ...
in Poughkeepsie. The Hudson Valley Hawks was a team in the former National Professional Basketball League. The team's home court was at Beacon High School, in Beacon.


See also

*
List of counties in New York There are 62 counties in the state of New York. The first 12 were created immediately after the British took over the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam; two of these counties were later abolished, their land going to Massachusetts. The newes ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Dutchess County, New York List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Dutchess County, New York This is intended to be a complete list of the 128 properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York ...
*
Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* MacCracken, Henry Noble. ''Old Dutchess Forever!'', New York: Hastings House, ©1956. LC 56-12863 * Smith, James H. ''History of Dutchess County, New York'', Syracuse, New York: 1882. Reprinted: Interlaken, New York: Heart of the Lakes Publishing. *


External links


Dutchess County official webpage


* {{Authority control Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area Counties in the New York metropolitan area 1713 establishments in the Province of New York Populated places established in 1713