History

New Paltz was founded in 1677 by French Huguenots who had taken refuge in Mannheim, Germany, for a few years before coming to America. Mannheim was, at that time, capital of the area called the Rhenish Palatinate or, in German, the Rhein Pfalz.

The community was governed by a kind of corporation called the Duzine, referring to the twelve partners who acquired the royal patent. That form of government continued well past the time of the American Revolution, by special action of the New York State legislature.

Population slowly spread from the Wallkill up along the street now known as North Front Street and then along what is now Chestnut Street, and, in the nineteenth century, along what is now Main Street. The secession of the Town of Lloyd and parts of Shawangunk, Esopus, and Gardiner, between 1843 and 1853, reduced New Paltz to its present size. In 1887, the Village of New Paltz was incorporated within a town of the same name.

Higher education has been one of the main concerns of the community since the 1830's, centering first on North Front Street, then moving late in the nineteenth century to the area of Plattekill Avenue and Manheim Boulevard (notice the French spelling), where the State University College of New York at New Paltz now stands.

New Paltz farmers looked early on to surrounding communities and even to New York City for markets. Establishment of the Wallkill Valley Railroad in 1870 gave a great boost to that concern. After fifty years or so, the motor car began to replace the train, and finally, in the early 1950's, the opening of the New York State Thruway brought this community even more fully into the network of business we know in the late twentiety century.

Mailing Address
PO Box 877,
New Paltz,NY 12561.