Updated on Apr 13, 2021
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Esopus is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 9,041 at the 2010 census. The town was named after the local indigenous tribe and means "small river" in English. They were one of the Lenape (Delaware) bands, belonging to a people who ranged from western Connecticut through lower New York, western Long Island, and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania along the Delaware River. The town is on the west bank of the Hudson River south of the city of Kingston. Its center is in Port Ewen. US Route 9W passes along the eastern side of the town.
The town was founded in 1811 from territory taken from Kingston, New York, which also was called "Esopus" at one time. It was officially formed on April 5, 1811. In 1818, a part of it was set off to Kingston, and a portion of Hurley was annexed. On April 12, 1842, a portion of New Paltz was annexed, making up what is mostly present-day Esopus.
The first known European to settle in the area was a trapper by the name of Christoffel "Kit" Davits, who bartered with the Esopus people, a branch of the Lenape. Around 1652 or 1653 many settlers moved south from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck where they had worked the patroon's land.
During the American Revolution, a colonial prison was established there in the fall of 1777 to house overcrowding of a prison ship anchored offshore. The British army attacked this settlement in the same year and burned it to the ground.
The Cumming-Parker House, Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, Col. Oliver Hazard Payne Estate, Poppletown Farmhouse, and Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Klyne Esopus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other noteworthy structures in Esopus include the Mount Academy.
In the early 19th century, Esopus was a popular summer residence for wealthy American families such as the Astors, Durkees, Paynes, Rockefellers, Smiths, Tiffanys and Whitneys, who built architecturally significant mansions and hunting lodges on the west bank of the Hudson River, across from the Vanderbilt and Roosevelt estates on the east bank.
Historical figures and celebrated people who have lived in Esopus include naturalist John Burroughs financier Harry Payne Bingham abolitionist Sojourner Truth 19th-century U.S. politician George W. Pratt Standard Oil treasurer Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne business leader and president of Avco Corporation Raymond Rich the Smith Brothers, who invented the first cough drops in America Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (patron saint of immigrants) Major Gen. Daniel Butterfield, who founded the American Express Company and wrote "Taps" in 1862 Eugene R. Durkee, who made a fortune in spices and salad dressings and whose West Park summer mansion became part of the Christian Brothers monastery John Jacob Astor III boxing champion Floyd Patterson who attended Wiltwyck School for Boys in West Park and Alton Brooks Parker, a lawyer and judge who ran for U.S president as the 1904 Democratic party nominee, losing to incumbent Theodore Roosevelt.
In the early part of the 21st century, Esopus became known as a haven for artists and performers, including Academy Award-, Emmy Award- and Tony Award-winning actress Frances McDormand, singer and Broadway actress Kelli O'Hara, actor Sebastian Roche, director Joel Coen, choreographer/director Joe Langworth, actress Blair Ross, Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage, actress Connie Ray, and reality television personality and former countess Luann de Lesseps.
In 1946, Esopus was under consideration for the United Nations headquarters. The community was not alone: no fewer than 248 towns in New York State were among the possible locations, along with cities in other parts of the United States and in nearly every European country. On January 9, 1946, a photo appeared in the Kingston Daily Freeman , with a caption reading, “The local UNO Committee mapping a tentative itinerary for the Sub-Committee of the United Nations Organization (UNO) was impressed with the view shown above from Camp Chi-Wan-Do on the River road between Port Ewen and Ulster Park.” Many local property owners organized to oppose the proposed UN headquarters, however, fearing eminent domain. Ultimately, a donation of more than eight million dollars by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. for 16 acres of land in Manhattan provided the UN with its current headquarters in 1948.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and
More about ESOPUS under "Town Info"
This page uses material from the Wikipedia article Esopus, New York , which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.