Pine Bush is a

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

(and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

) located in the town of Crawford and adjacent to

Shawangunk, New York Shawangunk is a town in southwestern Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 13,563 at the 2020 census. The town takes its name from its largest stream, the Shawangunk Kill. The name Shawangunk is from the language of the Le ...

, within

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and adjacent to

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

counties in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

It is roughly coterminous with the 12566 ZIP code and 744

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

in the 845 area code. These both extend into adjacent regions of the town of Shawangunk in

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. The count ...

. (The Pine Bush Central School District includes part of the town of Mamakating in Sullivan County as well). The population was 1,751 at the 2020 census. Pine Bush is part of the

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 ...

– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger

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 * ...

– Newark–

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

, NY- NJ- CT- PA Combined Statistical Area.

History

The community was one of the four early nineteenth century settlements in the jurisdiction of the town. It has previously been known as "Shawangunk," "Crawford," and "Bloomfield." Another community named "Crawford" is located to the northwest in bordering Ulster County. This hamlet was an early terminus for a short line railroad, the Middletown & Crawford Railroad. This line was bought by the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...

, which served the town until the 1970s. As a result of reported unusual sightings during the mid-1980s, Pine Bush developed a reputation as the

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

capital of the world. This characterization was supported by Ellen Crystall's book, ''Silent Invasion: The Shocking Discoveries of a UFO Researcher.'' The town has held an annual UFO festival for many years.

Geography

Pine Bush is located at (41.6088, -74.2987). 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 CDP has a total area of , all land. The hamlet of Pine Bush is in Orange County and near the border of

. The Pine Bush zip code, 12566, spills over into the Town of Shawangunk in Ulster County, but the Hamlet itself is in Orange County only. The Shawangunk Kill, a small river, marks this boundary.

New York State Route 52 New York State Route 52 (NY 52) is a state highway in the southeastern part of the state. It generally runs from west to east through five counties, beginning at the New York–Pennsylvania border, Pennsylvania state line in the Dela ...

and New York State Route 302 intersect at this hamlet, which predates the highways.

Demographics

As of the 2010

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 ...

and 2013-2017 American Community Survey, there were 1,780 people, 764 households, and 453 families residing in the CDP. There were 757 housing units. The racial makeup of the CDP was 90.8%

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 ...

, 2.5%

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 ...

, 0.01% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.2%

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 ...

, 2.4% from other races, and 2.4% 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 9.2% of the population. There were 764 households, out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% 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, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.7% were non-families. 35.9% of all households had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.01. The median income for a household in the CDP was $26,964, and the median income for a family was $75,357. Males had a median income of $38,203 versus $30,577 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 CDP was $25,715. About 17.1% of families and 23.5% 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 31.6% of those under age 18 and 27.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Pine Bush Central School District, which covers the CDP,
Text list
/ref> serves portions of seven townships located in

, Sullivan, and

counties. The system, one of the largest in the area, includes four elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school. Elementary schools include Circleville Elementary School, Pakanasink Elementary School, Pine Bush Elementary School, and E.J. Russell Elementary School. Middle Schools include Circleville Middle School and Crispell Middle School. The high school is Pine Bush High School.

References

External links