History of the Hudson Valley

The Hudson Valley, in New York State, was inhabited by indigenous peoples long before European settlers arrived. It was the tribes in the Lower Hudson River that sold what would become known an Manhattan Island to the Dutch West India Company.

European Exploration

In 1497, John Cabot traveled along the coast and claimed the entire country for England; he is credited with the Old World’s discovery of continental North America

Dutch colonization

In 1608 the Dutch West India Company hired British navigator and explorer Henry Hudson to survey the region in search of the North West Passage and he sailed up the Hudson.

Dutch East India Company financed English navigator Henry Hudson in his attempt to search for the Northwest Passage. During this attempt, Henry Hudson decided to sail his ship up the river that would later be named after him. As he continued up the river, its width expanded, into Haverstraw Bay, leading him to believe he had successfully reached the Northwest Passage. He docked his ship on the western shore of Haverstraw Bay and claimed the territory as the first Dutchsettlement in North America. He also proceeded upstream as far as present-day Troy before concluding that no such strait existed there.[6]After Henry Hudson realized that the Hudson River was not the Northwest Passage, the Dutch began to examine the region for potential trading opportunities.[Dutch explorer and merchant Adriaen Block led a voyage up the lower Hudson River, the East River, and out into Long Island Sound. This voyage determined that the fur trade would be profitable in the region. As such, the Dutch then established the colony of New Netherland.

After Hudson realised the river( after which he is named ) was not the North West Passage the Dutch decided to settle the region, naming it New Netherland and establishing three major outposts: New Amsterdam, Wiltwyck, and Fort Orange.New Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Hudson River, and would later become known as New York City. Wiltwyck was founded roughly halfway up the Hudson River between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange. That outpost would later become Kingston. Fort Orange was the outpost that was the furthest up the Hudson River. That outpost would later become known as Albany.

New Netherland and its associated outposts were set up as fur-trading outposts.The Dutch attempted to form a trade alliance with the Mahicans, angering the Mohawk nation and provoking hostilities between the two tribes. The Natives began to trap furs at a quicker pace and then sold them to the Dutch for luxuries. This trade would eventually deplete the supply of those animals in their territory, decreasing the food supply in the process. The focus on furs also made the Natives economically dependent on the Dutch for trade.

The Dutch West India Company operated a monopoly on the region for roughly twenty years before other businessmen were allowed to set up their own ventures in the colony.New Amsterdam quickly became the colony’s most important city, operating as its capital and its merchant hub.The other outposts functioned as settlements in the wilderness. Over time the region attracted new economic activity in the form of food, tobacco, timber, and slaves which were eventually incorporated into the colonial economy.

 

British rule

In 1664, the British invaded New Netherland via the port of New Amsterdam.New Amsterdam and New Netherland as a whole were surrendered to the British and renamed New York.

New Amsterdam later became known as New York City, Wiltwyck became Kingston, and Fort Orange became Albany.

Under British colonial rule, the Hudson Valley became an agricultural hub, with manors being developed on the east side of the river. Landlords held immense political power in the colony due to driving such a large proportion of the agricultural output. Meanwhile, land west of Hudson River contained smaller landholdings with many small farmers living off the land. The main crop was grain, which was largely shipped downriver to New York City, the colony’s main seaport, for export back to Great Britain.

 

Revolutionary War

The Hudson River was a key river during the Revolutionary War. The Hudson’s connection to the Mohawk River allowed travelers to get to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Rivereventually. In addition, the river’s close proximity to Lake George and Lake Champlain would allow the British navy to control the water route from Montreal to New York City.

In doing so, the British, under General John Burgoyne’s strategy, would be able to cut off the patriot hub of New England (which is on the eastern side of the Hudson River) and focus on rallying the support of loyalists in the South and Mid-Atlantic regions. The British knew that total occupation of the colonies would be unfeasible, which is why this strategy was chosen.As a result of the strategy, numerous battles were fought along the river, including several in the Hudson Valley.

 

Industrial Revolution

In the early 19th century, popularized by the stories of Washington Irving, the Hudson Valley gained a reputation as a somewhat gothic region characterized by remnants of the early days of the Dutch colonization of New York .The area is also associated with the Hudson River School, a group of American Romantic painters who worked from about 1830 to 1870.

Following the building of the Erie Canal, the area became an important industrial center. The canal opened the Hudson Valley and New York City to commerce with the Midwest and Great Lakes regions.However, in the mid 20th century, many of the industrial towns went into decline.

The first railroad in New York, the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, opened in 1831 between Albany and Schenectady on the Mohawk River, enabling passengers to bypass the slowest part of the Erie Canal.The Hudson Valley proved attractive for railroads once technology progressed to the point where it was feasible to construct the required bridges over tributaries. The Troy and Greenbush Railroad was chartered in 1845 and opened that same year, running a short distance on the east side between Troy and Greenbush, now known as East Greenbush (east of Albany). The Hudson River Railroad was chartered the next year as a continuation of the Troy and Greenbush south to New York City, and was completed in 1851. In 1866, the Hudson River Bridgeopened over the river between Greenbush and Albany, enabling through traffic between the Hudson River Railroad and the New York Central Railroad west to Buffalo. When the Poughkeepsie Bridge opened in 1889, it became the longest single-span bridge in the world.

During the Industrial Revolution, the Hudson River Valley became a major location for production. The river allowed for fast and easy transport of goods from the interior of the Northeast to the coast. Hundreds of factories were built around the Hudson, in towns including Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Kingston, and Hudson. The North Tarrytown Assembly (later owned by General Motors), on the river in Sleepy Hollow, was a large and notable example.

The river links to the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes, which allowed manufacturers in the Midwest, including automobile factories in Detroit, to use the river for transport.With industrialization came new technologies, such as streamboats, for faster transport. In 1807, the North River Steamboat (later known as Clermont), became the first commercially successful steamboat. It carried passengers between New York City and Albany along the Hudson River. At the end of the 19th century, the Hudson River region of New York State would become the world’s largest brick manufacturing region, with 130 brickyards lining the shores of the Hudson River from Mechanicsville to Haverstraw and employing 8,000 people. At its peak, about 1 billion bricks a year were produced, with many being sent to New York City for use in its construction industry.

Tourism became a major industry as early as 1810. With convenient steamboat connections in New York City and numerous attractive hotels in romantic settings, tourism became an important industry. Early guidebooks provided suggestions for travel itineraries.

 

Thanks to Wikipedia

Link: New York State