Harriman, New York

Harriman is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. It is in the southeastern section of the town of Monroe, with a small portion in the town of Woodbury. The population was 2,714 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie– Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York– Newark–Bridgeport, NY- NJ- CT- PA Combined Statistical Area.

Geography

Harriman is located at (41.308442, -74.147317).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and 1.00% is water.

NY-17, NY-17M and NY-32 connect in the village. New York Route 17, US Route 6, and Interstate 87 (New York State Thruway) connect north of the village. Harriman State Park is located east of the village.

History

The village is named after E. H. Harriman, former president of the Union Pacific railroad, whose estate — Arden — is adjacent to the village. Previously, the village was known as Turner, from the early restaurant of Peter Turner.

Charles Minot's achievement

In 1851, Charles Minot was waiting in a train parked at Turner Station, until seeing the new telegraph wires next to the tracks. He ran into the station and wired to Monroe, to see if the eastbound train had passed them already, which they responded no. Minot then ordered the train engineer to proceed to Goshen, but he refused. Instead of giving up, Minot got into the cab and drove the train himself to Goshen, then all the way to Port Jervis, hours ahead of schedule. Minot's way of communication was a first for the railroad industry at the time, which prompted a monument to be erected in 1912 along with a large ceremony, with many notable people attending such as the Erie president Frederick Underwood, Mrs. Harriman and more. In the 1980s, the bronze tablet on the monument was briefly removed by Conrail for "preservation purposes" but placed back after community backlash. The tablet was then stolen again by an unknown party, and has yet to be returned. It is unknown whether Conrail removed it again or if it was stolen.

Railroad service in Harriman

In 1838, Peter Turner had constructed a large train depot named the Orange Hotel. It was 3 stories tall, with a large dining hall and lavish rooms. It sat along the train tracks for the New York & Erie Railroad and was a fairly popular place for people to stop. But on December 26, 1873, the hotel had caught fire in the attic. Due to a lack of fire suppression equipment in the area, it was unable to be extinguished and the building completely collapsed within half an hour.

The station was replaced with a small depot until in 1909 when Mary Harriman (widow of E. H. Harriman) donated land farther south to build a new station, since the shack was on the verge of collapse. In 1910 with the death of E. H. Harriman, the Turner Village improvement Association proposed renaming Turner to Harriman. The association voted 58 to 13 to change the name. The village was divided on this matter, with one church putting up a banner reading "LONG LIVE TURNER," with the village responding by tearing it down. After this controversy had subsided, work began on the new station depot. with $6,000 donated from Harriman's widow, the station was much better designed, with a style that closely matched Tuxedo's station to the south.

The new station served the Erie Railroad for decades, until its bankruptcy where service was transitioned into the newly formed Erie Lackawanna Railway, then into Conrail only 16 years later, and finally the Metro-North Railroad. By the 1980s the station was boarded up and train service had been transitioned onto the present day route, with a new station being constructed south of Harriman on Route 17. The station remained decaying until 2006 where the Harriman building inspectors told Norfolk Southern Railway (the current owners of the land it stood on) to either refurbish the station or tear it down, which the railroad chose the latter. Presently, the former railroad from River Road, Harriman to East Main Street, Middletown has been converted into a 19.5 mile long shared-use path named the Heritage Trail.

Harriman Bicentennial Capsule

On July 4, 1976, a time capsule was placed in a small park between South Main Street and Grove street. It was named the Harriman Bicentennial Capsule, and will be opened on July 4, 2026.

New Village Hall

In 2019, the Village Hall was demolished with plans to build a larger one combining the Village Hall and Police station, but plans had been halted with the 2020 COVID Outbreak. In the meantime, village services were moved to the back portion of a closed school just a little down North Main Street. Construction finally started in June 2023 and the building was finished in September 2024, with an opening ceremony on October 19, 2024.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there was total population of 2,424 people consisting of 1,177 males making up 48.6% and 1,247 females at 51.4%. There was a 7.6% increase in total population from a decade ago. The median resident age was 37.1 years old. The estimated median household income in 2009 was $68,731 with an estimated capita income of 37,795.

White resident population recorded: 1,621
Black or African American resident population recorded: 325
American Indian and Alaska native resident population recorded: 18
Asian resident population recorded: 251
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander resident population recorded: 1
Hispanic or Latino of any race resident population recorded: 439
Resident population of some other race recorded: 125
Resident population of two or more races recorded: 83

51.54% of the residents are Democratic, 47.4% are Republican, and the remaining 1.062% are independent.

The estimated median house or condo value in 2009 was $244,914. The median gross rent in 2009 was $1,163.

For population 25 years and over in Harriman

High school or higher: 87.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 30.0%
Graduate or professional degree: 9.3%
Unemployed: 6.3%

Marital status

Never married: 27.5%
Now married: 52.6%
Separated: 4.3%
Widowed: 5.6%
Divorced: 9.9%

276 residents are foreign-born with 4.3% Asian, 4.2% Latin American, and 2.9% European.

Religion

53.1% of Harriman is religious with the majority being Catholic at 35.48%. The next most common religion Jewish, making a percentage of 6.45 of the community. Baptist, LDS, Episcopalian, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, other Christian, Eastern, and Islam make up the remainder of the religious percentage.

Education

Harriman is part of the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District, with most of the children in the town attending either Sapphire or Smith Clove which covers kindergarten through first grade. From there the children go to Central Valley, North Main, or Pine Tree elementary school for grades 2–5. Harriman children then enter Monroe-Woodbury Middle School for grades 6–8. The Middle School consists of four houses named Green, Red, Yellow, and Blue, same with the High School with A, B, C, and D House. The Monroe-Woodbury High School is directly to the left of the middle school and is where most adolescents go to school for grades 9–12.

Attractions

Harriman State Park

Harriman State Park, just east of the village, is the second biggest state park in New York. The park is located in Orange and Rockland counties 30 miles north of New York City. The park is known for its 31 lakes, vistas, and public camping areas. Harriman State Park borders Bear Mountain State Park and the United States Military Academy's forest reserve, as well as partially bordering Sterling Forest State Park to the southwest.
E.H. and Mary Harriman owned 30,000 acres of land on part of their estate in Arden, New York. The state made a decision to build a prison at Bear Mountain. The Harrimans opposed this action and wanted to donate some of their land to the state in order to build a park. Once E.H. died, Mary made a proposal to the Governor that she would make a donation of 10,000 acres and $1 million for the establishment of a new state park. The state must stop the plan to build the prison with $2.5 million to gain more land and construct park facilities.
By 1913, Major William A. Welch began constructing the road from Bear Mountain to Sloatsburg, which is known today as Seven Lakes Drive. Several roads were being created around Bear Mountain in order to make it easier for the public to get to the new park. There was even a steamboat service from Manhattan that would transport people back and forth with the cost of 85 cents for adults and 45 cents for children.

There are more than 40 known hiking trails located in Harriman, as well as over 30 lakes and ponds.

Woodbury Common Premium Outlets

The Woodbury Common Premium Outlets is a major tourist attraction in New York. This is a shopping center located in Central Valley, New York, which is only 5 minutes from Harriman when traveling north on route 17. The outlet opened in 1985, expanded 8 years later, and again in 1998. The center has 220 stores covering over 800,000 square feet of land and is one of the largest outlet centers in the world. Because of the immense size, there are different sections that are arranged by colors to make it easier for the public to find the store they are looking for. On the weekend there is a trolley service that is available to transport shoppers around the center and from the parking lots.
Woodbury Common is a major attraction for foreign tourists visiting the area. The most common tourists are Japanese because the outlet has cheaper prices than if the people were to get the same item in the country. Some stores claim that 40-50% of the profit they make comes from Japanese tourists. There are shuttle buses from New York City that make the trip to the commons. This outlet goes down in history as one of the most popular centers for tourism in the United States.

Transportation

The New York State Thruway ( I-87) runs along the eastern perimeter of Harriman. New York State Route 17 also serves the village. The business route, New York State Route 17M runs through the main village core. US Route 6 runs along the northern perimeter of Harriman.

Harriman is served by Transit Orange, a bus service in Orange County, New York. They provide a Dial-A-Ride bus service along with The Main Line, which runs daily and follows the path of the Erie Railroad from Woodbury Commons to Middletown, making a stop in Harriman.

Harriman station on the Metro-North Railroad's commuter rail Port Jervis Line is to the southeast, off Route 17. An older stop on Grove Street in the village downtown served the Erie Railroad main line until 1983.

References

External links

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Villages in New York (state)
Villages in Orange County, New York
Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area