New Paltz, New York

New Paltz
New Paltz
Town
	Town of New Paltz
	Paltz Point view from east, a view that dominates the town
	Seal Wordmark
	Etymology: Palatine dialect pronunciation of Pfalz
	Location in Ulster County and New York
	Location of New York in the United States
	Coordinates: 41°44′53″N 74°05′06″W / 41.74806°N 74.08500°W
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Ulster
Founded	1678
Government
• Type	Town council
• Supervisor	Neil Bettez
Area
• Total	34.31 sq mi (88.85 km2)
• Land	33.88 sq mi (87.74 km2)
• Water	0.43 sq mi (1.12 km2) 1.25%
Elevation	239 ft (73 m)
Lowest elevation	160 ft (50 m)
Population (2020)
• Total	14,407
• Density	425.24/sq mi (164.20/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	12561
Area code	845
FIPS code	36-111-50562
GNIS feature ID	00979269
Wikimedia Commons	New Paltz, New York
Website	Town of New Paltz, NY

New Paltz (locally /ˈnuː pɔːlz/) is an incorporated U.S. town in Ulster County, New York. The population was 14,407 at the 2020 census.^[2] The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston. New Paltz contains a village, also with the name New Paltz. The town is named for Palz (IPA: [ˈpalts]), the dialect name of the Palatinate, called Pfalz (IPA: [ˈpfalts] ^ⓘ) in standard German.

Due to the presence of what is now the State University of New York at New Paltz, it has been a college town for over 150 years.

History

The town of New Paltz was founded in 1678 by French Huguenots by both patent from the governor and purchase from the local Esopus tribe of the Lenape people. Prior to the purchase of New Paltz during the 17th century, the Esopus tribe had been pressured off much of their land which is now present day Ulster and Sullivan counties, because of conflicts known as the Esopus Wars. As a result, the Esopus were willing to exchange the land for a hefty sum of goods.[1] The Huguenots were religious refugees from France who had immigrated via Mannheim in the German Palatinate, where they had settled after fleeing France during religious persecution. They settled in the area of the present-day village of New Paltz (on what is now known as Huguenot Street Historic District) and established their own local government.^[3]

The size of the town increased with annexation from surrounding regions in 1775 and 1809. In 1842, part of New Paltz was removed to form the Town of Esopus. More of New Paltz was removed in order to form the towns of Rosendale (1844), Lloyd (1845), and Gardiner (1853).^{[citation needed]}

Geography

The Wallkill River flows northward through New Paltz on its way to join the Rondout Creek, which in turn feeds into the Hudson River. A portion of the Shawangunk Ridge is in the town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 34.31 square miles (88.9 km²), of which 33.88 square miles (87.7 km²) is land and 0.43 square miles (1.1 km²) (1.25%) is water.

Transportation

New Paltz is accessible by a number of different roads. Interstate 87 (the New York State Thruway) is the main thoroughfare and passes through in the eastern part and houses Exit 18 for Route 299. State routes that traverse through are Route 32, Route 208, and Route 299.

The nearest train station is about 11 miles (18 km) away, in Poughkeepsie. Both Amtrak and Metro-North trains serve Poughkeepsie. Adirondack Trailways also provides bus transportation from New Paltz into various locations across multiple states.

The western terminus of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail is located here. The hiking/biking path eventually crosses the Walkway Over The Hudson and becomes the Dutchess Rail Trail that ends in Hopewell Junction.

Education

New Paltz has four public schools (K-12) and is home to a college in the SUNY system:

Duzine Elementary School (K-2)
Lenape Elementary School (3-5)
New Paltz Middle School (6-8)
New Paltz High School (9-12)
State University of New York at New Paltz

The town is also home to several private schools, including Mountain Laurel Waldorf School pre-K through grade 8), Montessori of New Paltz (pre-K through grade 3), and Huguenot Street Cooperative Nursery School (pre-K).

Government

The town is governed by a town council, composed of four at-large members and a supervisor. There is also a village of New Paltz within the town, governed by a mayor and a board of trustees. It also had the first Green Party majority council in the nation.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	4,612	—
1830	5,105	10.7%
1840	5,408	5.9%
1850	2,729	−49.5%
1860	2,023	−25.9%
1870	2,040	0.8%
1880	1,958	−4.0%
1890	2,242	14.5%
1900	2,264	1.0%
1910	3,025	33.6%
1920	2,163	−28.5%
1930	2,550	17.9%
1940	2,815	10.4%
1950	3,749	33.2%
1960	5,841	55.8%
1970	10,415	78.3%
1980	10,183	−2.2%
1990	11,388	11.8%
2000	12,830	12.7%
2010	14,003	9.1%
2020	14,407	2.9%
U.S. Decennial Census^[4]

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,003. The racial makeup of the town was 84.72% White, 5.35% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 4.36% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.46% from other races, and 2.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.81% of the population.^[5]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,407. The racial makeup of the town was 74.01% White, 5.72% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 5.46% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 5.11% from other races, and 8.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.74% of the population.^[2]

Historic places

Notable people

Abe Attell, boxing champion
Terry Austin, comic book artist
Benjamin F. Church, pioneer
Charles Davis, NFL player and television commentator
Peter Dinklage, actor. Not from New Paltz*
Lewis DuBois, military commander in the Continental Army
Louis DuBois, Huguenot colonist
Sandy Duncan, Broadway and television actor
Ronald Enroth (born 1938), Professor of Sociology at Westmont College.^[6]
Vladimir Feltsman, piano teacher
Mary Gordon, novelist
Hasbrouck family, one of the founding families of New Paltz
Owen King, author
Jay Le Fevre, former US Congress member
Dana Lyons, musician
Floyd Patterson, heavyweight boxing champion
Sydney Schanberg, former journalist at the New York Times and professor at State University of New York at New Paltz
Keith Schiller, law enforcement officer and security expert
John Turturro, Hollywood actor
Andrew Yang, founder of Venture for America and 2020 candidate for U.S. president

Sister city

Niimi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

References

^ "2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "2020 Census Redistricting Data: New Paltz town, New York". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
^ History of the Village of New Paltz Archived August 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved February 27, 2013.
^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
^ "2010 Census Redistricting Data: New Paltz town, New York". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
^ "Student of the Week; Ronald Enroth Plans to Become a Teacher; Like History, Writing, Traveling and Books", Poughkeepsie Journal, December 2, 1955. Accessed June 26, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Set on becoming a teacher, Ronald M. Enroth, 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Enroth, New Paltz, has been selected by the faculty as New Paltz High School's 'Student of the Week'. Born in Weehawken, N. J., Ronald was raised in Ridgefield, N. J., and attended the Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, N. J., prior to moving to New Paltz two years ago."