Historical Tidbits About New Paltz

1785

• March 31: The Town of New Paltz was incorporated.

1810

• The first post office in New Paltz was established.

1862

• January 23: Counterfeit five's on the Huguenot Bank were in circulation.
• April 4: The first fire company was established in New Paltz.
• July 18: New Paltz was called upon to furnish 20 recruits for the Army during the Civil War.
• October 7: The Huguenot Fire Engine Company members received their uniforms.

1868

• August 6: The New Paltz Academy was designated by the state to instruct Common School teachers for 1868 - 1869.

1870

• The Mohonk Mountain House was opened by Albert, Alfred and Daniel Smiley. Mohonk is an Indian word for Lake of the Sky.

1877

• New Paltz taxes increased by 300% due to the railroad debt and the Panic of 1873.

1884

• The New Paltz Academy Building burned to the ground.

1889

• April 3: A telephone was installed in the Normal School.
• May 31: A policeman's salary was increased from $15 to $30 per year.
• June 19: Almost $60 was raised for the Johnstown flood sufferers.
• July 10: New Paltz had 14 regular trains daily, except on Sundays.
• Putt Corners was named for Napolean Purdy who came from Putnam County.

1893

• The population of the Village was about 1100.
• March 24: The first electric lights lit up New Paltz's village streets.

1894

• The Huguenot Historical Society was formed.

1895

• October 9: The Duke of Marlboro passed through New Paltz on the way to Lake Mohonk.

1897

• May 28: The riding of bicycles on sidewalks was prohibited.
• August 20: The formal opening of the Trolley Line (the rails of which still peek through the roadbed of Main Street). There were four cars: The Mohonk, The Minnewaska, The New Paltz and The Highland.

1899

• August 25: The Smileys have spent $100,000 in the past year to improve Lake Mohonk and the grounds. There is no liquor sold there and dancing and card-playing are banned.

1900

• September 10: Town population reached 2,264

1904

• June 11: Calvin Satterlee was appointed Truant Officer and less than a year later was also appointed Justice of the Peace (2/23/1905).

1905

• April 3: It was decided that the first two telephones would be installed in New Paltz by the New York Toll Company.

1909

• March 6: The New Paltz Free Library Association was formed.
• July 19: The speed limit of motor vehicles was set at 10 miles per hour, with a fine of $10 to those violating the law.
• April 21: The Huguenot Historical Society unveils its monument to the memory of the original 12 patentees.
• Work on the aqueduct began.

1911

• February 3: A New York State Supreme Court decided that married female teachers were not eligible for promotion and might be refused an appointment if their husbands were still able to earn a living.

1918

• April 26: Trolley fares were increased between New Paltz and the Highland Landing from twenty cents to twenty five cents.
• May 1: The cost of a haircut in New Paltz was set at thirty-five cents.

1919

• August 25: Pontius Ahlberg was named police constable at a salary of $10 per month.

1920

• May 6: A new autobus began, connecting New Paltz with the Highland Landing. The fare was sixty-five cents.
• June 3: The 50th Anniversary Celebration of the opening of Lake Mohonk Mountain House was held.
• October 10: The Elting Memorial Library building was dedicated.

1921

• New York State built the first concrete road in Ulster County: the New Paltz Turnpike to Highland.

1923

• April 28: The speed limit in the village for motor vehicles was set at 15 miles per hour.
• June 7: The Governor signs a bill authorizing the construction of a bridge over the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie.
• June 18: The Town Board voted to buy two voting machines.
• July 20: Laura Varick deeded the land for a park to be known as The Jean Hasbrouck Memorial Park.
• December 3: The electric light line was completed to Springtown Road.

1925

• The electric light system passed to the control of Central Hudson Gas and Electric Company.
• The trolley line was discontinued.

1926

• April 24: The New Paltz Opera House opened to bring live vaudeville acts to New Paltz.

1927

• A concern was raised regarding the increasing number of wildcats in the mountains near Lake Mohonk. Several very large ones had been caught recently in that area.

1929

• July 30: The New Paltz Central School District was established.

1930

• August 22: The automobile bridge, spanning the Hudson River, from Poughkeepsie to Highland opened. In attendance at the ceremonies were: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Governor of New York, Eleanor Roosevelt, former Governor Smith and others.

1932

• April 25: Common laborers for the village were to be paid $.42 per hour.
• October 28: Meat prices were advertised at:
  

Corned Beef:	$.10 per pound
Bacon:	$.23 per pound
Hamburger:	$.29 for two pounds
Sausage:	$.15 per pound
Roast Pork:	$.15 per pound
Leg of Lamb:	$.23 per pound
Chickens:	$.59 each

1934

• September: The formal opening of the New Paltz to Kingston concrete road was celebrated with a 12-mile procession.

1948

• The State Teachers' College at New Paltz was incorporated into the State University of New York.

1964

• Huguenot Street was designated a National Historic Monument. It is the oldest street in America.

1974

• July: The Town Hall was relocated to Route 32 North.

Thanks to the Elting Memorial Library, the Haviland Collection, Bulletins # 3 - #7, for the above information.