ValaTieLibrary.org
Title
Valatie Free Library Home Page
Description
About Valatie
Like many communities in New York's Hudson River valley, Valatie was settled in the early seventeenth century by Dutch colonists. It's pronounced "va LAY sha", by the way, not "VAL-a-TIE". The name comes from the Dutch "vaaltje" for "little falls", after the small but scenic waterfall that commands the center of the village.
The original inhabitants of the area were, of course, Native Americans. The "Meeting Place" ("Pachaquack") south of the "Great Fish Lake" ("Wogashawachook"), now Kinderhook Lake, may well have referred to the confluence of the Valatie Kill and the Kinderhook Creeks. And just east of the current village was Pompoonick, a Native settlement probably named after a local chief, Pompoen.
Records of the European settlement date back to about 1665. From the beginning, the abundance of water power provided by the two creeks supported the establishment of numerous mills in the area. As early as 1697, grist and saw mills had been erected on the banks of the streams. So successful did these milling enterprises become, that by 1829 a proposal was put forward to change the name of the village to Millville. This rather unimaginative proposition held sway for a few years, but when its first post office was established in 1832, the original name was restored. It was further formalized when the village incorporated, in 1856.
Contact
- Valatie Free Library
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- Valatie NY
- US 12184
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- +1.5187810351
