Washington 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 ...

Dutchess County, New York 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 o ...

, United States. The population was 4,522 at the 2020 census.U.S. Census, 2020, 'Washington town, Dutchess County, New York' The town is named after

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, who passed through the town during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. Washington is in the central part of the county, northeast of the city of

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

U.S. Route 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 Kerhonks ...

passes across the town.

History

Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the area was the abode of the sedentary

Wappinger The Wappinger ( ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutc ...

Indians. Although some Dutch had settled in the area, it was the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

grant of the

Great Nine Partners Patent The Great Nine Partners Patent, also known as the "Lower Nine Partners Patent," was a land grant in Dutchess County, New York, made on May 27, 1697, by New York governor Benjamin Fletcher. The parcel included about along the Hudson River and wa ...

in 1697 that spurred growth. Lt. Col. Henry Filkins was the largest landowner and his family continued in leadership until forced to flee at the start of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. When Dutchess County was first organized in 1683, it was subdivided into twelve precincts. What is now the towns of Stanford, Clinton, Pleasant Valley, and Washington constituted Charlotte Precinct, later named after

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her ...

. The town was formed as part of the county reorganization in 1788 as one of the original twelve towns, with the towns of Poughkeepsie and Clinton to the west. The town lost territory in 1793 to form the new town of

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. The

Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad The Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad was a railroad in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Its line ran northeast from the Hudson River in Fishkill to the Connecticut state line near Millerton. The Dutchess and Columbia Rail ...

(formerly the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad) came through in 1869 cutting north-south across the town, with a station between Mechanic and Hart's Village.

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 , of which is land and , or 1.21%, is water. Washington is bordered by Pleasant Valley and

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...

to the west,

to the north, Amenia to the east, and

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast 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 southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

and Union Vale to the south. A small part of

LaGrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaWappinger 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, New York, New Hamburg in Dutc ...

flows through the northeast corner of the town, and its East Branch flows through the center of the town. The Canoe Hills are located on the 2,000 acre Cary Arboretum in the Town of Washington.

Communities and locations in Washington

* Bloomvale Historic District – A former hamlet, north of Washington's Hollow *Lithgow – A location in the northeastern corner of the town. *Littlerest – A location south of Mabbettsville. * Mabbettsville – A hamlet east of Millbrook. * Millbrook – The Village of Millbrook is near the center of the town. *South Millbrook – A location south of Millbrook bordering the town of Union Vale. *Shunpike – A location north of Millbrook. *Washington's Hollow – A location by the western town line, where Washington camped. *Oak Summit

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 4,742 people, 1,914 households, and 1,244 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 2,192 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.69%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.83%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.06% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.78% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.58% of the population. There were 1,914 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.95. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $52,104, and the median income for a family was $69,074. Males had a median income of $45,938 versus $31,411 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $32,561. About 2.7% of families and 7.2% 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 3.5% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Charles Erwin Booth, Wisconsin State Assemblyman *

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whic ...

, American actress, producer *

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

, actor *

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek ( ), was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was the primary vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the America ...

, founder of

The Cars The Cars were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the New wave music, new wave Subculture, scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek (rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (l ...

and music producer *

Melancton Smith Melancton Smith (May 7, 1744 – July 29, 1798) was a merchant, lawyer and a New York delegate to the Continental Congress. Praised for his intelligence, liberality, and reasonableness, Smith attained considerable respect in the State of New ...

, delegate to the Continental Congress

References

External links

Town of Washington official website
{{authority control Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area Towns in Dutchess County, New York Towns in New York (state)