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Hurley
Hurley, NY, town hall.jpg
Location in Ulster County and the state of New York.
Location in Ulster County and the state of New York.
Hurley is located in New York
Hurley
Hurley
Location in New York
Country United States
State New York
County Ulster
Area
 • Total 35.97 sq mi (93.15 km2)
 • Land 29.91 sq mi (77.47 km2)
 • Water 6.06 sq mi (15.68 km2)  16.74%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total 6,314
 • Estimate 
(2016)
6,129
 • Density 204.91/sq mi (79.12/km2)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code 36-111-37143

Hurley is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 6,314 at the 2010 census. The town is in the northeastern part of the county, west of the city of Kingston. Much of the town is inside the Catskill Park. Located within the town is a hamlet and census-designated place, also named Hurley.

History

In the Spring of 1662, Petrus Stuyvesant, Director General of New Netherland, established the village of Niew Dorp on the site of an earlier Native American Settlement. On June 7, 1663, during the Esopus Wars the Esopus attacked and destroyed the village, and took captives who were later released. England acquired the Dutch Colony on September 6, 1664. On September 17, 1669, the village, abandoned since the Esopus attack, was resettled and renamed Hurley. It has been stated that the resettled village was named after Francis Lovelace, Baron Hurley of Ireland. However, no such title existed and it is more likely that Lovelace renamed the settlement Hurley somehow in reference to, or solidarity with, his kinsmen and fellow Royalists, the Barons Lovelace of Hurley in Berkshire, England (contemporaries as well as modern historians often confuse Francis Lovelace the colonial governor with a son of Richard, 1st Baron Lovelace (1564-1634) of Hurley, Berkshire. This earlier Francis was to be the grandfather of the John Lovelace (1672-1709) a later colonial Governor). In 1708 two large land patents from the New York Colonial government expanded the bounds of Hurley northward to near the present boundary with the Town of Woodstock and southward to the old boundary of the Town of New Paltz.

The southern section was quickly settled by farmers and the villages of Bloomingdale and Wagondale (now Creeklocks) were established. The discovery of limestone suitable for cement made this a valuable economic area and the village of Rosendale became its center. These villages and the surrounding area became the core of the Town of Rosendale, established in 1844.

The central part of the Town (known sometimes as Old Hurley) remained an agricultural community of close-knit families. Farming the Esopus Valley they supplied grain to the growing colony, New England, and the American Revolutionary forces. During October, November, and December 1777, Old Hurley was the military headquarters for General George Clinton's Continental forces and the temporary capital of New York State.

Old Hurley's Main Street is part of the National Register of Historic Sites due to its well-preserved stone houses which have served as residences for more than 300 years. Some are open to the public once a year in July on Stone House Day and one contains the Hurley Heritage Society's museum.

The northern section of the Town was a forested wilderness until the discovery, in the 1830s, of a fine quality shale. Known as Blue Stone, it was used in the construction of road curbing, sidewalks and building facades. West Hurley, Glenford, and Ashton were villages established by the quarry industry. In 1917, New York City's need for a dependable water supply resulted in land condemnation and the flooding of the valley to create the Ashokan Reservoir. The flooded villages of Glenford and West Hurley were resettled on the shores of the reservoir, but Ashton was never relocated.

Parts of Hurley have been used to form the Towns of New Paltz (1809), Esopus (1818), Olive (1823), Rosendale (1844), and Woodstock (1853).

The construction of the Ashokan Reservoir inundated many communities in 1912.

In 1982, parts of the movie Tootsie were filmed at the historic Wynkoop Farm and the Hurley Mountain Inn, both in Hurley.

The Hurley Historic District and Maverick Concert Hall are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.0 square miles (93.2 km²), of which, 30.0 square miles (77.6 km²) of it is land and 6.0 square miles (15.6 km²) of it (16.74%) is water.

Esopus Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River, flows through the town. The eastern part of the Ashokan Reservoir is in the northern part of the town.

US Route 209 passes through the eastern part of the town. NY 28 crosses it east to west.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1820 1,352
1830 1,408 4.1%
1840 2,201 56.3%
1850 2,003 −9.0%
1860 2,364 18.0%
1870 2,987 26.4%
1880 2,521 −15.6%
1890 2,135 −15.3%
1900 1,903 −10.9%
1910 1,734 −8.9%
1920 846 −51.2%
1930 1,168 38.1%
1940 1,530 31.0%
1950 1,980 29.4%
1960 4,526 128.6%
1970 6,496 43.5%
1980 6,992 7.6%
1990 6,741 −3.6%
2000 6,564 −2.6%
2010 6,314 −3.8%
2016 (est.) 6,129 −2.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 6,314 people. The population was 94.5% white, 1.6% black, .1% Native American, 1.4% Asian Asian and .1% Pacific Islander. 2.9% were Latino of any race.

Communities and locations in Hurley

  • Ashton – A former community, lost by the construction of the Ashokan Reservoir.
  • Ashokan Reservoir – A reservoir formed in 1917 within the Catskill Park. It is partly within the northwest part of the town.
  • Hurley – The hamlet of Hurley is in the eastern part of the town. It was temporarily the capital of New York.
  • Creeklocks – A location formerly called "Wagondale."
  • Glenford – A hamlet on the north shore of the Ashokan Reservoir, on Route 28 west of West Hurley.
  • Morgan Hill – A hamlet inside the Catskill State Park, northwest of Hurley village.
  • Old Hurley – A location in the central part of the town. Contains the Hurley Historic District.
  • Riverside Park – A hamlet south of Hurley village.
  • Rolling Meadows – A suburban community bordering Kingston.
  • Southside – A location in the town.
  • West Hurley – A hamlet on the north shore of the reservoir, on Route 28.


Notable people

  • Sojourner Truth, abolitionist, feminist, social activist, born a slave in Hurley in 1797.
  • Maurice Hinchey, former US Congressman.
  • William C. Hasbrouck, former New York State Assembly Speaker and lawyer, born in Hurley in 1800.
  • August Kauss, Medal of Honor recipient in the American Civil War.
  • Herb Trimpe, longtime Marvel Comics artist, The Incredible Hulk.
  • Jonathan Donahue, founding member of 1990s band Mercury Rev. Was born in Kingston and lived in Hurley until 1977.
  • Joe Eula, American fashion illustrator.
  • Whitney Hall, player for the Nightmares hockey team.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Hurley (pueblo) para niños

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