This article appeared in the May/June 2014 issue of Your Valley.
Beacon has come a long way from its early roots, yet has also returned to them in many ways, keeping the spirit of the early days of the city while changing to fit into modern day. This is reflected in the shops and art studios that line the streets and the craft fairs and farmer’s markets held throughout the year, all accessible by train or car.
Two fur traders from New York City, Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck, originally purchased the land that makes up what is today the city of Beacon from the Wappinger Native American tribe in 1683. The area was then settled as the villages of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing in 1709. These settlements were among the first in Dutchess County.
“It begins with Catheryna Brett, our community’s founder, along with her husband, Roger, who settled here in 1708-09, and whose house, the Madam Brett house, still stands and is the county’s oldest,” Bob Murphy, the president of the Beacon Historical Society, said, discussing some of the area’s most noted and influential early residents.
Catheryna Brett purchased the royal patent to the land that today comprises Beacon and sold much of it to settlers in the area while still retaining the right to build a mill, as flour was important to the local economy. At the time, Dutchess County ranked first in wheat production in New York State and supplied one third of the state’s flour production. Ms. Brett also laid a road out along her property, which today is Route 52.
In 1748, Ms. Brett joined with 18 other area residents to build the Frankfort Store House, which began river freighting in the area due to its location near the water, in the area of what was then known as “Lower Landing,” an area north of what is today Dennings Point.
Mr. Murphy spoke of two other early notable residents, Peter Schenck and John Peter DeWindt. “Peter Schenck, who established our first factory, the Matteawan Company in 1814, a section of which still stands; and John Peter DeWindt, who built ‘Long Dock’ in 1815 on the river’s shore and made us a commercial port” were important early influencers in the community, Mr. Murphy said.
Fishkill Landing began to develop due to the business orchestrations of Mr. DeWindt. He owned 2,000 acres of land in Fishkill Landing that he received as a gift from his father. He also owned property across the river in Newburgh. He built the Long Dock in 1815 and a shipyard just south of it, where he operated a freight business using sloops. The first steam powered ferry, known as the “Plow Boy” was built to go between these areas in 1828. Sloops made up the majority of the traffic on the Hudson River at that time.
Matteawan, the second small village that would eventually comprise Beacon, was located about a mile and a half east of Fishkill Landing, along Fishkill Creek. The village was connected to Fishkill Landing via both stagecoach and railway.
The Newburgh-Beacon ferry began in 1743 and ran through 1963. According to Mr. Murphy, it was “the first to be chartered along the Hudson and was an important crossing during the American Revolution and for settlers traveling west.” By the early 1900’s, it consisted of three ferryboats, each of which could carry up to 30 vehicles. Between linking the east and west sides of Route 52 and the addition of the New York State Thruway, ferry traffic had increased to an unmanageable capacity, leading to the eventual construction of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.
A streetcar ran in Beacon from 1892 until 1930. “It was the first of such between Albany and New York City,” Mr. Murphy said. There was also the Mount Beacon incline railway. “It was touted as the steepest incline in the world, with purportedly three million-plus visitors in its 75-year existence,” Mr. Murphy said.
Beacon incorporated as a city in 1913. It included the two aforementioned villages as well as the small hamlet of Glenham. During the American Revolution, Beacon manufactured war supplies, as well as serving as both a fort and a signaling port, the thing that gave Beacon its name, referencing the signal fires that could be seen from the top of Beacon Mountain.
In the 1800s, Beacon became known for its industrial production, gaining a reputation as the hat making capital of the United States. “Lewis Tompkins, a hat manufacturer, whose hat factories, built in the 1870s, were the start of an industry, hat making, that by the 1920s made Beacon the number two hat manufacturing city in the country [second to Danbury],” Mr. Murphy said.
Another influential resident was Dr. Clarence Slocum. “In 1915, he established Craig House Hospital here, a private sanitarium for the rich and famous that helped put Beacon on the map,” Mr. Murphy said.
In the 1960s, Beacon underwent a period of urban renewal, which led to the destruction of some of the city’s historical buildings, and in the 1970s, the Dutchess Ski area, a tourist attraction, was closed. The economic decline that affected the country in the 1970s hit Beacon as well, closing many of the factories. Up until the late 1990s, almost 80 percent of the commercial spaces and factories in Beacon remained closed.
The city went through a resurgence beginning in the late 1990s, with the opening of Dia: Beacon, a large museum displaying contemporary art, which Mr. Murphy describes as jump starting the artist community. Ron Sauers began work to rejuvenate Main Street in the 1980s, working through the city, “rehabbing one building at a time,” Mr. Murphy described. Many artists and businesses have been drawn to Beacon since then, with its convenient proximity to New York City and the riverfront appealing to many.
There are projects still in development to further improve the city, such as a waterfront hotel and conference center as well as what is known as the “Rivers and Estuaries Center” planned for Dennings Point.
Historic Buildings
Madam Brett Homestead – The home of Catheryna Brett and the oldest building in Dutchess County, it is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bogardus-DeWindt House – The home of John Peter DeWindt, it is typical of the homes built in the area between 1750 and 1830 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 19, 1993.
Reformed Church of Beacon – It was originally called the Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill Landing and is the oldest church in Beacon. It was built in 1813 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Eustatia – A Victorian Gothic style brick cottage that was built for John Monell, who married into the DeWindt family. The home was built based on designs by Frederick Clarke Withers and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Howland Cultural Center – It is also the Howland Library and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in 1872. Joseph Howland commissioned Hunt for the job, though the library was not opened to the public until 1976. Prior to that, the collection was only available to subscribers. The center was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 1973.
Recommended Reading:
Beacon Historical Society on Facebook – contains the city’s 1963 jubilee booklet and general background on the history of Beacon
Historic Beacon by Bob Murphy
Beacon Revisited by Bob Murphy
Howland Cultural Center
Karen Fredrickson 