Port Ewen, New York
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Port Ewen 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 ...
) 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 ...
,
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. The population was 3,678 at the 2020 census. Port Ewen is in the Town of Esopus, south of
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
, along U.S. Route 9W. Port Ewen is bounded by the
Rondout Creek Rondout Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York, United States. It rises on Roc ...
to the north, the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
to the east, the hamlets of Connelly and Sleightsburgh to the northwest and northeast, respectively, the hamlet of Ulster Park to the south, and New Salem to the west.


History

The prospect of finding work with the Pennsylvania Coal Company attracted many to Port Ewen. Port Ewen was served by the
West Shore Railroad The West Shore Railroad was a U.S. railway company active in the states of New York and New Jersey between 1885 and 1952. It was incorporated in 1885 to reorganize the New York, West Shore and Buffalo Railway, which had originally been inten ...
, which shipped, among other freight, high explosives produced by the Nitro Powder Company in Kingston. Before the opening of the Kingston–Port Ewen Suspension Bridge in 1921, those wishing to cross the
Rondout Creek Rondout Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York, United States. It rises on Roc ...
would have to take the ''Skillypot'', a
chain ferry A cable ferry (including the types chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...
that ran to Sleightsburgh, noted for its sporadic service.


Hercules Powder Company

Hercules Powder Company was formed in 1882 by
DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...
and Laflin & Rand Powder Company. In 1902 by
DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...
purchased Laflin & Rand which it operated as a subsidiary. In 1904 it dissolved Hercules as it continued to consolidate it holdings. However in 1912 successful antitrust litigation forced Duport to divest itself of Laflin and much of its explosive manufacturing. Laflin's patents for smokeless powder went to a revived Hercules Powder Company based in Wilmington, Delaware. The Port Ewen plant produced a range of special detonators designed for military use, as well as construction jobs that required blasts of dynamite. In 1973, two women were injured in an explosion of blasting caps.


Religious Establishments

Port Ewen has been served by several religious establishments, including the Town of Esopus United Methodist Church, the Catholic Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Reformed Church of Port Ewen.


Catholic Church of the Presentation

A Catholic mission of St. Mary's in Rondout had been established in Port Ewen for the large number of boatmen who lived on the northern side of Rondout Creek in Kingston. In 1873 the mission was split off as a separate parish and placed in the charge of Rev. Michael Phelan. The Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was dedicated by Archbishop
John McCloskey John McCloskey (March 10, 1810 – October 10, 1885) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as the first American-born Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his ...
on June 14, 1874. Aside from attending to missions in the nearby hamlets of Eddyville and Esopus, Phelan also traveled to southern Ulster County, where he formed the nucleus of a parish in the hamlet of Milton. Rev. Thomas O'Hanlon became pastor of Port Ewen's Church of the Presentation in 1877. O'Hanlon built the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in Eddyville. He died in 1883 and was buried at the entrance of the church.


Environmental Concerns

Port Ewen and adjacent Ulster Park were once a work site of
Dyno Nobel Dyno Nobel is a manufacturer of explosives. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Incitec Pivot Limited operating in Australia, Canada, the United States, Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, South America, Papua New Guinea and Turkey. They provide the exp ...
explosives, listed as a manufacturing/distribution location in the 2012 Sustainability Report issued by Dyno Nobel / Incitec Pivot Limited. The location of the former Hercules Inc./Dyno-Nobel site has been designated a state Superfund site: "The site is listed as a "Class 2" site in the State Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites (list of State Superfund sites). A Class 2 site represents a significant threat to public health or the environment and action is required." The downstream spread of contaminants has impacted Port Ewen from the original site in Ulster Park. "The primary contaminants of concern at the site are inorganic (metals) in the soil site-wide and creek sediments and "energetic" (potentially explosive) materials in wetland sediment and in specific locations in the manufacturing area. Volatile organic compounds (e.g., chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethene or TCE) are also present in the groundwater near the former shell plant. The presence of potentially explosive materials complicate implementation of a remedy at this site." The
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protecti ...
(NYS DEC) had identified in a May 2023 state report, "mercury, lead, copper, zinc, and dozens of other chemicals" in sediment investigations of Plantasie Creek, adjacent to the public elementary school. According to the NY DEC, "Former manufacturing operations for primers and igniters for explosives took place in the developed portion of the site, which occupies approximately 100 acres. However, present-day operations include producing electric detonators within a smaller portion of the site. Disposal activities occurred within the plant area and in wetland areas in the eastern portion of the property. Most of the surrounding areas are naturally vegetated with cover types ranging from old fields to forested areas." A
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protecti ...
Superfund Community Report for June 2024 indicated that "On May 21, 2024, DEC issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to the town of Esopus for the unpermitted work. The town immediately worked closely with DEC to implement corrective measures, including covering areas of soil disturbance and installing temporary fencing near the elementary school to reduce the risk of public exposure." Levels of lead exceeding 15 ppb have been found in some water supplies of Robert R. Graves Elementary, Port Ewen's public elementary school, according to an August 2021 analysis completed by EnviroTest Laboratories, LLC, with the highest recorded level of 90 ppb. Lead levels in water supplies exceeding 15 ppb have also been found in nearby Anna Devine Elementary School, located in Ulster Park, according to an analysis completed on behalf of Ulster BOCES. The highest level of lead recorded in the Anna Devine report was 230 ppb.


Geography

Port Ewen is on the west bank of the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
at the mouth of Rondout Creek. Port Ewen is located at (41.906980, -73.978599). 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 , of which is land and (26.97%) is water.


Demographics

As of the 2020
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 ...
, there were 3,678 people, in 1,434 households (down from 1,475 in the 2000 census) in the census-designated place (CDP). There were 1,784 housing units (up from 1,564 in 2000), with 1,660 occupied housing units, and 124 vacant housing units in 2020. The racial makeup of people in the CDP was 3,020
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 ...
, 211
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 ...
, 3 Native American, 59 Asian, 108 from other races, and 277 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 255 of the population. There were 1,434 households in 2020 (down from 1,475 households in 2000), out of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them in 2020, (down from 31.2% in 2000). Of those households, 41.1% 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 in 2020, down from 51.1% in 2000. Family households with a female householder with no spouse present comprised 32.1% in 2020, (from 10.3% in 2000), while those with a male householder with no spouse present made up 14.7% of households in 2020. The average family size was 2.91 in 2020. Updated information for 2020 is available. In the CDP, the population in 2000 was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males. Updated information for 2020 is available. The median income for a household in 2000 was $41,949, and the median income for a family was $50,208. Males had a median income of $37,043 versus $27,583 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 $22,040. About 5.1% of families and 8.8% 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 14.5% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.


Education

The school district for the CDP is Kingston City School District.
Text list
/ref> The comprehensive high school of the Kingston City district is Kingston High School.


Notable people

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Bomefree; November 26, 1883) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and Temperance movement, alcohol temperance. Truth was ...
, American abolitionist and activist, was enslaved in West Park, a few miles south of Port Ewen, also within the Town of Esopus. Truth was enslaved by Martinus Schryver from 1808-1810, forced to work at the tavern in town, until Schryver legally trafficked her to John Dunlap, also of West Park. Truth was finally able to escape being held against her will in 1826. A statue of her now stands at the corner of Broadway and Salem Street.
Luann de Lesseps Luann de Lesseps (née Nadeau, previously D'Agostino; known as "Countess Luann" from her first marriage, although she no longer has that title; born May 17, 1965) is a Canadian-American television personality, singer, model, and author. She is b ...
, former countess and current star of Real Housewives of New York City, purchased a home along the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
in 2018. It has even been featured on the television show.


References


External links


Town of Esopus Library
{{authority control Census-designated places in New York (state) Census-designated places in Ulster County, New York Hamlets in New York (state) Hamlets in Ulster County, New York New York (state) populated places on the Hudson River