Carmel (pronounced ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Putnam County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the town had a population of 33,576. The Town of Carmel is on the southern border of Putnam County, abutting

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

, approximately north of New York City and west of

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...

. It has no incorporated villages, although the hamlets of Carmel and Mahopac each have populations sizable enough to be considered villages.

History

The town of Carmel was originally inhabited by Indians of the Wappinger people, who, in 1691, sold the property to Dutch traders. In 1697, a wealthy New York merchant, Adolphus Philipse, purchased their deed and was granted a patent from

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

of England for the entire tract of land which is now Putnam County. The town was settled around 1740 by George Hughson. On the night of April 26, 1777, after learning the news that the British had begun burning nearby Danbury,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington rode the entire night through the hamlets of Carmel, Mahopac, Kent Cliffs and Farmers Mills, warning those along the way that the British were coming before returning home at dawn. A statue memorializing the ride sits alongside Lake Gleneida. Carmel was formed with Franklin town from part of Frederick town on March 17, 1795, while still a part of

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

. (Franklin was renamed Patterson April 6, 1808. Frederick changed its name to

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

April 15, 1817.) Carmel was transferred to Putnam County when Dutchess County was split to form Putnam County in 1812 and Carmel was designated the county seat. In 1861, a small part of Carmel was taken to be added to the town of Putnam Valley.

Putnam County Courthouse

The Putnam County Courthouse was built in 1814. It is the second oldest working courthouse in New York State. General James Townsend, of Carmel, was the architect. A landmark on Gleneida Avenue in Carmel, the building has a classical front facade. There was one hanging there in 1844. A jail was added in 1855. A new Putnam County Courthouse was completed in early 2008, located nearby on Gleneida Avenue. Carmel HS

Significant events

* December 4, 1965 – A

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

en route to San Francisco collided with an

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first civil airliner family to enter widespread use equipped with a pressurized cab ...

flight in mid-air, killing four people. * July 29, 1971 – A category F-2

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

away from the town center caused between $50,000 and $500,000 in damages. * October 22, 1974 – A large row of businesses on Gleneida Avenue was destroyed in a fire that required over 200 volunteer firefighters to fight the blaze. * September 1982 – June 1983 – Carmel High School track star Mike Stahr was ranked first in the US for the mile run, losing only one high school track race during his junior and senior year. He set state records and was the Millrose Games mile winner two years in a row. * July 10, 1989 – A F-2 (max. wind speeds 113–157 mph) tornado away from the Carmel town center traveled east across Fair Street near the King's Grant condos, injuring five people and causing between $5 million and $50 million in damages. * September 11, 2001 – eight Carmel residents died in the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The town has a memorial dedicated at Spain-Cornerstone Park on the corner of Fair Street and Route 52. * April 27–28, 2007 – The Town of Carmel hosted a two-day Revolutionary War era militia encampment along Lake Gleneida. The event celebrated the 230th anniversary of the heroism of Sybil Ludington. RMP 38

Government

Carmel is governed by a

Town Supervisor The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the American state of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, towns, and villages. (The only boroughs, the f ...

and the Town Board. The Carmel

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

is located at 60 McAlpin Avenue in Mahopac.

Emergency services

Law enforcement is primarily handled by the Town of Carmel Police Department, supplemented by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the New York State Police. Fire protection services are provided by the Carmel Fire Department, Croton Falls Fire District, Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department, and Mahopac Falls Volunteer Fire Department. Emergency medical services are provided to the town based on nature and location of emergency. Basic life support ambulance service is provided by Carmel Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department, Mahopac Falls Volunteer Fire Department, and North Salem Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Advanced life support ambulance and first response service is provided by Empress Ambulance under contract by Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services.

Education

The Town of Carmel is served primarily by two school districts: Carmel Central School District and Mahopac Central School District. Smaller portions of the town are in Lakeland Central School District, North Salem Central School District, and Brewster Central School District.

Carmel Central School District

Carmel Central School District encompasses 85 square miles and serves approximately 5000 students from six different towns. The district enrolls students from the town of Kent, as well as parts of the towns of Carmel, Putnam Valley, Patterson, Southeast and East Fishkill. George Fischer Middle School is Carmel's primary middle school. Built in 1963, it was named after a former school board member, George F. Fischer. It contains a large number of students (1,000+), and contains grades 5–8. It is notable for its music program. Constructed in 1929, Carmel High School, which serves 1,843 students, is located on Fair Street across the street from the post office in the heart of town. The original building had four additions, including one built in 1936 with money from the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

, one in 1969, one in 1980, and one in 2007, which holds science classrooms and a library. St. James the Apostle is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

elementary school in Carmel that opened in 1954.

Mahopac Central School District

Mahopac Central School District has 6 public schools serving 4,138 students in Mahopac, New York. It is divided into five schools: three K-5 schools (Lakeview Elementary School, Fulmar Road Elementary School, and Austin Road Elementary School), a middle school for grades 6–8 (Mahopac Middle School) and a high school for grades 9–12 (Mahopac High School). A nursery school is operated by the district at the Mahopac Falls school. Historically, Mahopac had five one-room school houses that were united into one central school (now Lakeview Elementary School) in 1935. St. John the Evangelist was a Catholic elementary school in Mahopac from 1955 until its closing in 2011. The school building remains with the active Church across the street from Lake Mahopac.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of (88.74%), of which is land and is water (11.26%). The southern town line is the border of

, adjacent to Somers. The town is located approximately north of New York City (measured from

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

) and approximately west of

Notable sites and organizations

Chuang Yen Monastery Chuang Yen Monastery () is a Buddhist temple situated on in Carmel Hamlet, New York, Carmel, Putnam County, New York, Putnam County, New York (state), New York, in the United States. The temple is home to the largest indoor statue of a Buddha ( ...

(Buddhist Association of the United States) * Gilead Cemetery * Putnam Hospital Center — a 164-bed not-for-profit acute care hospital on Stoneleigh Avenue, which opened in 1964. *

Reed Memorial Library Reed Memorial Library is located at the junction of U.S. Route 6 in New York, US 6 and New York State Route 52, NY 52 in Carmel Hamlet, New York, Carmel, New York (state), New York, United States. It is the oldest library building in Putnam County ...

Communities and locations in Carmel

*Boyds Corners – * Carmel – A hamlet in the northeastern corner of the town and home to the seat of Putnam County. *Baldwin Place – A hamlet at the junction of

US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the Grand Army of the Republic, American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbere ...

and NY 118. * Carmel Hills – A hamlet south of Carmel village. * Crafts – once a hamlet of Carmel with its own post office, off Drewville Road, south of Route 6, named after the Craft Family, descendants of Pilgrims. * Field Corners – * Hopkins Corners – * Houseman Corners – * Kent – * Kent Cliffs – * Lake Carmel – * Ludington – * Mahopac – A hamlet in the southern half the town where the municipal government is located. * Mahopac Falls – A hamlet in the southwestern corner of the town. * Mahopac Mines – Abandoned mines on the eastern side of town near the old Ames building. * Mahopac Point – A former private community on Lake Mahopac *Mahopac Golf Club – Located on the north side of Lake Mahopac is an 18-hole private golf and beach club. * Rock Hill Camp – A Girl Scout camp opened in 1922, located in Mahopac on Long Pond. * The Sedgewood Club – (Previously the Carmel Country Club) A private community with golf and tennis facilities near the hamlet of Carmel, * Thompkins Corners – * Secor Corners – * Seven Hills – * Stillwater – A hamlet in the southwestern corner of the town. * Tilly Foster – A hamlet southeast of Carmel village near the eastern town line.

Demographics

* Total Population: 33,196 * Males, 49.0%; Females – 51.0% * Median Age: 40.1 years * By Race ** White, 90.5% ** Hispanic (of any race), 8.0% ** Asian, 3.0% ** Black or African American, 1.0% ** Other Race, 2.7% * Average Household Size: 2.99 * Median Household Income: $105,406 (2015) * Per Capita Income: $42,034 (2015) * High School Graduation Rate: 94.1% * College Graduation Rate: 42.1% Source: US Census

Notable people

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

, "Captain Lou" (1933–2009), professional wrestler/manager * Nancy Allen, (born 1950), classical harpist * William Francis Bailey, (1842–1915),

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

politician and judge * Amedee J. Van Beuren, (1879–1938), film producer *

Leo Burmester Bernard Leo Burmester (February 1, 1944 – June 28, 2007) was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in '' Passion Fish'' (1992) and '' Lone Star'' (1996), and also for directors such as John Sch ...

, (1944–2007), stage and television actor *

Daniel Drew Daniel Drew (July 29, 1797 – September 18, 1879) was an American businessman, steamship and railroad developer, and financier, one of the " robber barons" of the Gilded Age. Summarizing his life, Henry Clews wrote: "Of all the great oper ...

, (1797–1879), businessman, developer and financier * Dave Fleming, “Mr. Mahopac", (born 1969), professional baseball pitcher * Daniel Gutman (1901–1993), lawyer, state senator, state assemblyman, president justice of the municipal court, and law school dean. * Ryan Kelly (born 1991), professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets *

Lisa Lane Marianne Elizabeth Lane Hickey (April 25, 1933 – February 28, 2024), also known as Lisa Lane, was an American chess player. She was the U.S. Women's Chess Champion in 1959. She appeared on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' in the August 7, ...

, (1933–2024), 1959 U.S. Women's Chess Champion * Larry Laoretti, (born 1939), professional golfer * Lewis Ludington, (1786–1857), businessman, lumber baron, and real estate developer * Bob May, (1939–2009) actor and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

, best remembered for playing The Robot on the 1965–68 television series ''Lost in Space'' *

Caleb McLaughlin Caleb Reginald McLaughlin (born October 13, 2001) is an American actor. He gained international recognition playing Lucas Sinclair in the Netflix series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present). He began his career playing young Simba in the Broadw ...

, (born 2001), actor, star of ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...

'' * Jim Ryan, (born 1939) former '' Good Day New York'' anchor * Sabrina Vega (born 1995), USA Gymnastics Senior National Team member

References

External links

Town of Carmel official website

Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce

Reed Memorial Library (Carmel)
{{authority control Towns in Putnam County, New York Towns in New York (state) Towns in the New York metropolitan area