|
|||||
 |
The Town
of Coeymans was named after Barent Pieteres Koijemans who arrived here
from Holland in 1639 and was an apprentice in a grist mill owned by the
Patron Van Rensselaer. It was on April 7, 1673, that Barent Coeymans
took possession of the land that he had purchased from the Indians in
1672, land which became known as the Coeymans Patent. About the year
1800, perhaps 300 or 400 families lived in the Town of Coeymans, which
was formed from part of the original patent and also from part of the
Town of Watervliet. The first recorded Town meeting was held in April,
1811 and the first Supervisor was elected in 1818. The Ariaantje
Coeymans stone house was built about 1720 near the mills on the Coeymans
Creek. The house still stands and is in very good condition. The first
dwelling, called Coeymans Castle, was a stone house that was
subsequently torn down in 1833. It stood on the corner of Westerlo and
First Streets. Much of
the earliest life was of Dutch ancestry and centered around the junction
of the Coeymans and Onesquethaw Creeks and the Hudson River. Several
mills were constructed for grinding grain, sawing lumber and water
power. The earliest settlement was Coeymans Landing, a port on the
Hudson River, where most of the early industry began. Coeymans Landing
is now the Hamlet of Coeymans. Commerce grew, especially with the close
of the War of 1812, and continued to grow until the turn of the century.
Ship building was a major industry along the Hudson River along with the
harvesting of ice. In the late 1700s, there were many brick companies
and mills along the Hannacroix Creek including Dean's Mill, Aquetuck
(Peacock's Corners), Coeymans Hollow, Alcove (Stephensville), and Indian
Fields (inundated in 1930 to make way for Albany's water supply, the
Alcove Reservoir). Alcove was known for its mills and Mossy Hill Stone
Quarry, which is still in operation today. Coeymans Hollow is home to
the Little Red Schoolhouse Museum and the Electus Shear house, both
listed on the State and National Register of Historical Places. Other
listings on the Registers include the Civill Building (now a senior
citizen apartment house), Ariaantje Coeymans Stone House, both located
in Coeymans, Tobias TenEyck House on Old Ravena Road; the crossroads
community of Alcove Historic District; and St. Patrick's Church, Ravena. It was
about 1820 when stage companies established routes and were given
contracts for carrying mail. Prior to this time, mail had commonly been
carried by Post Riders. A turnpike company was incorporated for the
construction and maintenance of a highway from Coeymans Landing through
Coeymans Hollow, Indian Fields, Dormansville and Westerlo to the
Delaware Turnpike (about 18 miles). The first division was incorporated
in 1850 as the Coeymans and Westerlo Plank Road Company. Ten years
later, plank was taken up and broken stone substituted. The first
newspaper was published in 1863. In 1907, the Ravena News bought the
Coeymans Herald to become the News Herald. F. E. Bleezarde became
the owner in 1917. Coeymans
was first connected to Albany in 1864 by the Saratoga and Hudson River
Railroad. It was short lived and later called the "White Elephant
Railroad." It left the Town without a railroad until 1883 when the
New York West Shore Buffalo Line was completed. With it, Coeymans
Square, whose name was changed to Coeymans Junction, flourished.
Coeymans Junction is now Ravena. Waterworks were constructed in 1897 and
Ravena was incorporated into a village in 1914. Telephone service was
added in 1903, electric lights were added in 1908 and a sewage system
was installed in 1915.
|
||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
|
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
|
Photographs from the Ed Giddings Collection, courtesy of Dennis Whalen. |
|||||
