North Highlands (sometimes referred to as North Highland) is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Putnam County, New York Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,668. The county seat is Carmel. Putnam County formed in 1812 from Dutchess County and is named for Israel Putnam, a hero in the ...

which consists of the northernmost portions of Philipstown in the

Hudson Highlands The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in New York state lying primarily in Putnam County on its east bank and Orange County on its west. They continue somewhat to the south in Westchester County and Rockland County ...

. Like the adjacent village of Nelsonville, it shares a ZIP Code and

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

with nearby Cold Spring.

History

North Highlands was part of the

Philipse Patent The Philipse Patent was a British royal patent for a large tract of land on the east bank of the Hudson River about 50 miles north of New York City. It was purchased in 1697 by Adolphus Philipse, a wealthy landowner of Dutch descent in the Provin ...

, a

royal patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

granted to

Adolphus Philipse Adolphus Philipse (1665–1750) was a wealthy landowner of Dutch descent in the Province of New York. In 1697 he purchased a large tract of land along the east bank of the Hudson River stretching all the way to the east to the Connecticut bor ...

in 1697. Upon his son's death in 1751, much of what is now North Highlands was inherited by his daughter

Mary Philipse Mary "Polly" Philipse (1730–1825) was the middle daughter of Frederick Philipse II, 2nd Lord of Philipsburg Manor of Westchester County, New York. Of Anglo-Dutch extraction, she was a wealthy heiress (although strictly not so, as she had brother ...

who was a

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

and had her land confiscated by the state. One of the earliest homes in the area was that of David Hustis built in 1730. North Highlands Cemetery is located along Route 9 and has gravestones dating from the early 1800s to the present day. There was a schoolhouse in the area in the 1920s. The North Highlands Fire Organizing Committee was founded in 1968 and eventually lead to the creation of the North Highlands Fire District. The first firehouse was completed in 1972 on land donated by the local KCOR radio station and a new building was constructed in the early 2010s on the same location.

Geography

The area is bordered to the west by 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 N ...

and contains several mountains of the

, most notably Bull Hill and the Putnam County portion of

Breakneck Ridge Breakneck Ridge is a mountain along the Hudson River between Beacon, New York, Beacon and Cold Spring, New York, Cold Spring, New York (state), New York, straddling the boundary between Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess and Putnam County, New ...

Government and schools

North Highlands is governed by the

town board A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Philipstown and is part of the Haldane Central School District. The North Highlands Fire Department is located in the hamlet. Local law enforcement includes new

New York State Police The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the state of New York in the United States. It is part of the New York State Executive Department, and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 civilian members. History The State ...

and Putnam County Sheriff's Department.

References

{{authority control Hamlets in Putnam County, New York New York (state) populated places on the Hudson River