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Esopus is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 9,041 at the 2010 census. The town was named after the local indigenous tribe and means "small river" in English. They were one of the Lenape (Delaware) bands, belonging to a people who ranged from western Connecticut through lower New York, western Long Island, and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania along the Delaware River. The town is on the west bank of the Hudson River south of the city of Kingston. Its center is in Port Ewen. US Route 9W passes along the eastern side of the town. [edit] History
The town was founded in 1811 from territory taken from Kingston, New York, which also was called "Esopus" at one time. It was officially formed on April 5, 1811. In 1818, a part of it was set off to Kingston, and a portion of Hurley was annexed. On April 12, 1842, a portion of New Paltz was annexed, making up what is mostly present-day Esopus. The first known European to settle in the area was a trapper by the name of Christoffel "Kit" Davits, who bartered with the Esopus people, a branch of the Lenape. Around 1652 or 1653 many settlers moved south from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck where they had worked the patroon's land. During the American Revolution, a colonial prison was established there in the fall of 1777 to house overcrowding of a prison ship anchored offshore. The British army attacked this settlement in the same year and burned it to the ground. The Cumming-Parker House, Esopus Meadows Lighthouse, Col. Oliver Hazard Payne Estate, Poppletown Farmhouse, and Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Klyne Esopus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other noteworthy structures in Esopus include the Mount Academy. [edit] Research Tips
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