Adsmenia Township
Amenia, NY

before 1711 -- Richard Sackett started the first white settlement at "Washiack"

he encouraged the Palatines, victims of religious persecution and economic exploitation, to settle in Amenia.

1740 -- New England families arrive.

Gail Borden locates his first condensed milk factory in Wassaic with the financial support of Noah Gridley, owner of the Gridley Iron Works; dairy farming becomes dominant in the area.

Commodore Vanderbit and Jay Gould were frequent guests of Noah Gridley in Wassaic. Gridley convinced Vanderbilt to extend his Harlem Valley Railroad through Wassaic to Amenia and on to the Irondale section of Millerton.

1887 -- the business ends after Gridley's death.

late 1920s and early 1930s -- New York establishes the "State School" in Wassaic and the school becomes the largest employer.

The town of Amenia named by Thomas Young, a resident of Amenia Union and a poet, who derived the name from the Latin word "amoena" meaning "pleasant to the eye."

Delavergne Hill -- named by the early Huguenot settlers. In the bowl-shaped valley below, there is a golf course, restaurant, banquet facilities, and a future conference center. Man made Lake Amenia is at the bottom of Delaverge Hill.

Wassaic State Multiple Use Area is in the township.

Celebrities in the area:
1. John Burroughs
2. Joel Spingarn
3. Lewis Mumford

Joel Spingarn was a retired professor from Columbia University. He founded Amenia Field Day, "a countryside day of free and wholesome recreation managed by the whole community." 10,000 people showed up in 1913. It was held at Troutbeck.

He also held the Amenia Conference of 1916 which discussed the situation of the African Americans. This helped contribute to the emergence of the NAACP.

Today Troutbeck is a conference center.

Source: Ghee, Joyce C. And Joan Spence. 1998. Image of America: Harlem Valley Pathways: Through Pawling, Dover, Amenia, North East, and Pine Plains. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing.

Amenia Mining Company (source: Kirby, Ed)

Directions:

From the traffic light in Amenia. The site of the Amenia Mining Company mines is located over the hill behind Four Brothers Pizza to your right. Turn left and drive south on Route 22. At mile 6.0, pass the entrance to Island Green Country Club. The former Johnny Cake Ore Bed is located on the back nine of the golf course. Ore from the mine was used at the Gridley Furnace to the south.

At mile 7.9, turn right on the gravel road and pull off immediately on the left by the charcoal kilns.