Located on the banks of the majestic Hudson River, Rhinebeck is a beautiful historic area in Northern Dutchess County, 100 miles north of New York City and easily accessible by Amtrak. It is a tourism destination boasting 437 National Historic Register sites, some now serving as B&Bs and inns. Fabulous restaurants, charming boutiques and shops, and numerous antique stores line the well-kept and preserved Village streets.

HISTORY

European settlement in the Rhinebeck area dates to 1686, when a group of Dutch crossed the river from Kingston and bought 2,200 acres of land from the local Iroquois tribes. Later, Henry Beekman obtained a patent for the land and saw a need for development. In 1703 the New York colonial assembly approved money for the construction of the King’s Highway, later known as the Albany Post Road and today most of Route 9.

The village was incorporated in 1834. Ten years later, Alexander Jackson built the Henry Delamater House at 44 Montgomery Street. It still stands today as one of the best examples of the early use of the Gothic Revival style in American residential architecture. By the 1850s, Rhinebeck had experienced great growth and acquired a reputation as a woodworking center. It’s reputation for milled products flourished and its furniture was shipped as far away as South Carolina. Rhinebeck became known as the leader in crafting the finest quality carriages, coaches and sleighs. Clothing manufacturers also achieved national prestige. The area was also acquiring a cachet as a location for the country estates of the Gilded Age wealthy, and those people could frequently be seen in town during the summer and on weekends.

An 1890 map of the village shows much of the historic district remains the same today. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself a native of nearby Hyde Park, New York, would play a role in the town’s history during the later years of the Great Depression when he oversaw the design process for the new post office. He had long promoted Dutch-style fieldstone as a material for public buildings in the area, and told the architects to use Henry Beekman’s house (burned in a 1910 fire) as their model and some of its remaining stones for the post office. The oldest building in the Village is the Beekman Arms Inn, built in 1700, and reported to be the oldest inn in America. The oldest house in the Village is the Benner House, built in 1739.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Population 2000: 3,077
Square miles: 1.62
Metro area: Poughkeepsie-Newburgh

As of the 2000 census, there were 3,077 people, 1,376 households, and 690 families residing in the village. The racial makeup of the village was 94.54% White, 1.92% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 1.14% Asian, 1.14% from other races, and 1.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 3.96% of the population.

The median income for a household in the village was $41,639, and the median income for a family was $57,000. Males had a median income of $46,653 versus $40,058 for females. The per capita income for the village was $28,773. About 3.4% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.