Coxsackie

History

The settlement of Coxsackie began in the seventeenth century, in approximately 1652, as part of the development of New Netherland. The government of the area became established as a district in 1772, and Coxsackie was founded in 1788 with a town form of government. Part of Coxsackie was lost when the town of Durham was formed in 1790. Further land was lost in the formation of the newer towns of Cairo and Greenville (1803), New Baltimore (1811), and Athens (1815). One of the first settlers in Coxsackie was Pieter Bronck, of the same family for which the Bronx is named. In 1663, he built the Pieter Bronck House in West Coxsackie, which is open as a museum. The nearby family burial ground includes a separate plot with marked graves for slaves of the family.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 38.4 square miles (99.4 km2), of which 36.9 square miles (95.6 km2) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.8 km2, or 3.86%) is water. The eastern town line is defined by the Hudson River and is the border of Columbia County. The New York State Thruway (Interstate 87) and U.S. Route 9W pass through the town. State Route 385, running north-south through the town, serves the older villages and other areas near the Hudson River. This road earlier served as the majority of the Coxsackie Turnpike.

Race & ethnicity