Columbia 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 ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,570. 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 st ...

is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal for the name of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Columbia County comprises the Hudson, NY Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Albany-

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, NY

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

. It is on the east side 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 N ...

and is considered to be part of the Upper

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 ...

History

At the arrival of European colonists the area was occupied by the

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Mohican Indians. To the west of the river were the Mohawk and other four tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, extending past what is now the border of New York state. The first known European exploration of Columbia County was in 1609, when

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

, an English explorer sailing for the Dutch, ventured up the

. An accident to his craft forced him to stop at what is now known as Columbia County, and search for food and supplies. In 1612, the Dutch established trading posts and minor settlements, constructing New Amsterdam (today's

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) and Fort Orange ( Albany). Fort Orange became a center of the fur trade with the Mohawk people. Traders began to stop at midway points along the Hudson River, on their travels between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange. Small settlements arose along the river to supply the traders' ships. In 1649, Dutch colonists purchased land near Claverack and again in 1667. As more Dutch arrived, the region slowly developed. In 1664, the English took over New Netherland and renamed it 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 ...

; they also renamed Fort Orange as Albany. In the late 17th century, Robert Livingston, a Scots immigrant by way of Rotterdam, built on his connections as

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

in the colony and purchased two large portions of land from the Native Americans. He gained much larger grants from the provincial government, for a total of 160,240 acres. He was made

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

of Livingston Manor by the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

, with all its perquisites, and started to develop the property with

tenant farm A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

ers. In 1710, he sold 6,000 acres of his property to

Queen Anne of Great Britain Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 8 March 1702 until 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as G ...

for use as work camps and resettlement of Palatine German refugees. The Crown had supported their passage to New York, and they were to pay off the costs as

indentured labor Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...

. Some 1200 Palatine Germans were brought to Livingston Manor (now known as

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

). New York's Governor Hunter had also helped with these arrangements: the workers were to manufacture

naval stores Naval stores are all liquid products derived from conifers. These materials include rosin, tall oil, pine oil, and terpentine. The term ''naval stores'' originally applied to the organic compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sail ...

(''e.g.'', pitch, resin, and turpentine) from the pine trees in the Catskill Mountains. They were promised land for resettlement after completing their terms of indenture. They were refugees from years of religious fighting along the border with France, as well as crop failures from a severe winter. Work camps were established on both sides of the Hudson River. The Germans quickly established Protestant churches at the heart of their community, which recorded their weddings, births and deaths, among the first vital records kept in the colony. 1879 CV map only

After many years, some of the colonists were granted land in the frontier of the central Mohawk Valley west of present-day Little Falls in the 100 lots of the Burnetsfield Patent; in the Schoharie Valley, and other areas, such as Palatine Bridge along the Mohawk River west of Schenectady. They were buffer communities between the British settlements and the Iroquois and French (the latter located mostly in Canada.) Columbia County was formed in 1786 after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

from portions of Albany County, once a vast area until new communities were developed and jurisdictions were organized. In 1799, the southern boundary of Columbia County was moved southward to include that portion of Livingston Manor located in Dutchess County. In the nineteenth century, the

Vermont Central Railway The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, Connect ...

was constructed to the area. It provided transportation north towards Rutland and Burlington, Vermont, and south towards the major junction town of

Chatham, New York Chatham is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census. The town has a village also called Chatham on its southern town line. The town is at the northern border of ...

, for travel to points west, south and east. A large number of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

artists and writers settled in Columbia County in the late 20th century, including

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...

, who moved to the county in 1970, followed by

James Ivory James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with scree ...

and

Ismail Merchant Ismail Merchant (born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman (25 December 1936 – 25 May 2005)) was an Indian film producer, director and screenwriter. He worked for many years in collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included Direct ...

(1975) and the poet John Ashbery (1978).Philip Gefter
The Place Beyond the Fire Island Pines
''New York Times'' (October 23, 2017).

Government and politics

Voters in Columbia County since the mid-19th century have mostly elected Republicans to office. But from 1996 to 2007, new voter registrations by Democrats have outpaced those by Republicans by a margin of 4 to 1.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.1%) is water. Columbia County is in the southeast central part of New York State, southeast of Albany and immediately west of the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

border. The western border is the

. The landscapes of the county were among the scenes depicting by the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...

, a mid-19th century

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defi ...

. The terrain is gentle, rolling hills, rising sharply into the Taconic and Berkshire Mountains along the state line. To the west lie the

and the Catskill Mountains. Catskills across the Hudson

The highest point is on the

state line, near the summit of Alander Mountain, at approximately 2,110 feet (643 m) above sea level, in the town of Copake. The lowest point is at or near sea level, along the Hudson. Columbia County is accessible by two limited-access highways. The

Taconic State Parkway The Taconic State Parkway (often called the Taconic or the TSP and known administratively as New York State Route 987G or NY 987G) is a parkway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest in the U.S. state of New York. It follows ...

, which is not accessible to trucks or commercial traffic, runs through the center of the county from south to north, ending at an interchange with Interstate 90 and connecting the county with points south. Columbia County is the last New York county located along eastbound Interstate 90 (and the first county along westbound I-90), which passes through the towns of Canaan and Chatham as the Berkshire Connector portion of the

New York Thruway {{Infobox road , state = NY , type = NYST , alternate_name = Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway , maint = NYSTA , map = {{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, type=line, stroke-width=2, type2=line, from2=New Yor ...

. I-90 has two exits within the county; for the southbound

in Chatham, and for NYS Route 22 in Canaan. Depending on precise location within the county, road travel distance to New York City ranges between and . Several other major routes cross Columbia County including north–south

U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, between ...

, east–west NYS Route 23, north–south NYS Route 22 and a short portion of east–west

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

in the county's northeastern corner.

Rivers and streams

The Hudson River forms the western border of the county. Other notable creeks include; the Ancram Creek,

Claverack Creek Claverack Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 tributary to Stockport Creek in Columbia County, New York, in the United States. Its source is in the ...

, Copake Creek,

Kinderhook Creek Kinderhook Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 tributary to Stockport Creek, an inlet of the Hudson River in the United States. From its source in ...

, Roeliff-Jansen Kill, and Valatie Kill. The Rossman Falls and Stuyvesant Falls lie on the Kinderhook Creek. Notable lakes and ponds include Copake Lake, Kinderhook Reservoir, Queechy Lake, and Lake Taghkanic.

Farms

Columbia County is home to many local farms supplying the area with fresh meat, eggs, herbs, and produce, including Holmquest, Ronnybrook, Fix Brothers Fruit Farm, Eger Brothers, Hover Farms, Marsh Meadow Farm, Schober Farm, Millerhurst, Ooms Farm, Churchtown Dairy, Pigasso, Common Hands Farm, Darlin' Doe, Letterbox Farm Collective, Blue Star Farm, Green Mead Farm, Little Ghent Farm, and Ironwood Farm. Other farms include the large, well-known Hawthorne Valley Farm which includes a farm store and training programs, the biodynamic Roxbury Farm, and FarmOn! at Empire Farm, also a teaching farm.

Adjacent counties

* Albany County - northwest * Berkshire County,

- east * Dutchess County - south * Greene County - west *

Litchfield County Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

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 to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

- southeast *

Rensselaer County Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the ...

- north *

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. History ...

- southwest

National protected area

Martin Van Buren National Historic Site Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is a unit of the United States National Park Service in Columbia County, New York, south of the village of Kinderhook, north of New York City and south of Albany. The National Historic Site preserv ...

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 in ...

of 2000, there were 63,094 people, 24,796 households, and 16,588 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 99 people per square mile (38/km²). There were 30,207 housing units at an average density of 48 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.09%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 4.52%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.21% Native American, 0.80%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.90% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.45% from two or more races. 2.53% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. 17.2% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, 14.7%

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, 14.5%

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, 9.0%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, 6.3%

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and 6.1% American ancestry according to

Census 2000 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

. 94.0% spoke

and 2.1%

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

as their first language. There were 24,796 households, out of which 29.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.20% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.10% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.95. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.10% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 26.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $41,915, and the median income for a family was $49,357. Males had a median income of $34,702 versus $25,878 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 $22,265. About 6.40% of families and 9.00% 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 t ...

, including 11.80% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 census, the racial makeup of the county was 90.6% White, 4.5% African American, 0.2% Native American and 1.6% Asian. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.9% of the population.

Communities

City

* Hudson (county seat)

Towns

* Ancram *

Austerlitz Austerlitz may refer to: History * Battle of Austerlitz, an 1805 victory by the French Grand Army of Napoleon Bonaparte Places * Austerlitz, German name for Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic, which gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz a ...

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

* Claverack * Clermont * Copake * Gallatin *

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

* Greenport * Hillsdale * Kinderhook * Livingston * New Lebanon * Stockport * Stuyvesant * Taghkanic

Villages

* Kinderhook * Philmont * Valatie

Census-designated places

* Claverack-Red Mills * Copake * Copake Falls * Copake Lake *

* Lorenz Park * Niverville * Stottville * Taconic Shores

Hamlets

* Boston Corner * Chatham Center * Columbiaville * Craryville * East Chatham * Elizaville * Humphreysville * Lebanon Springs * Malden Bridge * Mellenville * New Britain * New Lebanon * New Lebanon Center * Niverville * North Chatham * Old Chatham * Spencertown * Stuyvesant Falls * Red Rock * West Copake * West Lebanon

Education

Columbia–Greene Community College Columbia–Greene Community College (Co-Greene or C-GCC) is a public community college in Hudson, New York. Founded in 1966, it is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and is locally sponsored by two rural counties, Columbia ...

is located in Hudson, NY.

Transportation

Major Highways

Interstate 90 runs east–west through the county. The

runs from I-90 south towards Westchester County. The main arterial north–south road, U.S. 9, runs through the larger towns towards the Hudson River. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Railroads

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 ...

passenger trains of the ''Empire Service'' corridor, as well as the '' Adirondack,'' ''

Ethan Allen Express The ''Ethan Allen Express'' is a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak in the United States between New York City and Burlington, Vermont, via Albany, New York. One daily round trip is operated on a north-south route with a 7 hour 35 minu ...

'' and ''

Maple Leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along th ...

'' make stops at Hudson station. Until 1960s, the

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

railroad's local service between Albany, NY and Boston, made stops in

. Both the Penn Central's ''

New England States The ''New England States'' was a passenger train operated by the New York Central Railroad and its successor Penn Central over the Water Level Route (predominantly alongside rivers and lake shores) between Chicago and Boston. It was launched in ...

'' (discontinued, 1967) and Amtrak's Boston-bound section of the ''

Lake Shore Limited The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an overnight Amtrak intercity passenger train that runs between Chicago and either New York City or Boston via two sections east of Albany. The train began service in 1975; its predecessor was Amtrak's Chicago– ...

,'' making the same route, have not made stops in Columbia county. Into the latter 1930s, the

Rutland Railroad The Rutland Railroad was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. After its closure in 1961, parts of the ...

(in map above) operated trains between Bennington, Vermont and Chatham.'Official Guide of the Railways,' August 1936, Rutland Railway section, Table 5 At Chatham Union Station there were connections to New York Central's

Harlem Line The Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line, originally chartered as the New York and Harlem Railroad, is an commuter rail line running north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Sou ...

to Grand Central Terminal. Penn Central (successor to the New York Central) truncated service on the

from Chatham to Dover Plains in 1972.

Airport

Columbia County Airport Columbia County Airport is a county-owned public use airport in Columbia County, New York, United States. The airport is located four nautical miles (7 km) northeast of the central business district of Hudson, New York. It is a small un- ...

is located in Hudson and provides general aviation services.

Notes

References

External links

Columbia County, NY

* ttp://crandelltheatre.org Crandell Theatre (1926) Official website of the oldest and largest movie theater in Columbia County
''The Register-Star''
newspaper of Columbia County
''Hudson Valley Directory''
listings pertaining to Columbia County, New York
''Visit Chatham, NY''
site sponsored by the Chatham Area Business Alliance
Columbia Economic Development Corporation
lead economic development organization for Columbia County, New York {{authority control 1786 establishments in New York (state) Populated places established in 1786