Valley Cottage is a hamlet (and census-designated place), in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of West Nyack; east of New City; south of Congers and west of Upper Nyack. The population was 9,269 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Valley Cottage is located at 41°7′4″N 73°56′33″W / 41.11778°N 73.9425°W / 41.11778; -73.9425 (41.117862, -73.942531)[1].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.3 square miles (11.1 km²), all land.
Demographics
At the census[2] of 2000, there were 9,269 people, 3,347 households, and 2,379 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,168.7 per square mile (838.1/km²). There were 3,410 housing units at an average density of 797.9/sq mi (308.3/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 82.16% White, 3.59% African American, 0.09% Native American, 9.81% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 1.89% from other races, and 2.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.71% of the population.
There were 3,347 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $75,828, and the median income for a family was $87,123. Males had a median income of $51,718 versus $41,653 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $33,181. About 1.4% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 1.7% of those age 65 or over.
History
The first known resident of Valley Cottage was John Ryder who owned a large farm which comprised all or most of the area's school district.
The post office was first opened at the Valley Cottage Station in 1892.
Naming of Valley Cottage
According to George H. Burke's book Rockland County during the American Revolution, 1776 - 1781, Valley Cottage was once known as Storm's Corner.
In 1876, just before the opening of the West Shore Railroad station, the residents assembled at the school room agreed on the name Valley Cottage referencing the house nearest the station "that cottage in the valley".
Another version has it that the name of the hamlet came about because of a famous trotting house named Cottage Maid, owned by Ed Green who owned the land where the station, the Marcus store and other buildings stood.
Education
- Valley Cottage Elementary School
- Liberty Elementary School is a Blue Ribbon Award winner (2000-2001) and semi-finalists (2004), New York State winner of International Reading Award and ING Unsung Heroes Award (2004) for Karne Andreasen’s “Turn on to Reading” program.
Tourism
Historical markers
Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain unveiled October 4th, 2008
Landmarks and places of interest
- Josephine Hudson House belonged to the first woman to work in the knickerbocker Ice Company. Money is currently being raised to preserve the house.
- Knickerbocker Ice Company - established 1831. Rockland Lake was known to have had the cleanist and purest ice in the area. Knickerbocker's Ice House No. 3, located at Rockland Lake, could store more than 40,000 tons of ice harvested from the lake. The wooden storehouse's walls were insulated with sawdust to keep the ice blocks frozen until they were shipped in the summer. By 1834, the company owned a dozen steamboats, 75 ice barges and employed about 3,000 to ship ice countrywide. The stored ice was placed on inclined railroad cars, transported down the mountainside, placed on barges on the Hudson River and shipped to New York City. So much ice was shipped that Rockland Lake became known as the "Icehouse of New York City". Knickerbocker burned down in 1926. Knickerbocker's Ice House No. 3 is currently a Clarkstown town historic site. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage recently pledged to help preserve the remaining walls. Only those walls and some scattered foundations from other icehouses remain. John Hanchar, a Clarkstown police officer whose family has deep roots in the hamlet, recently donated money for new markers at this site.
- Knickerbocker Fire House - established 1862.
- Palisades Center
- Rockland Lake Community was a thriving community made up of the many workers at the Knickerbocker Ice Company.
- Rockland Lake State Park
- Storms Tavern - believed to have been built in 1765 restored in 2008.
- Tolstoy Foundation of Valley Cottage, founded in 1939 by Alexandra Lvovna Tolstoy, youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy.
Notable people from Valley Cottage
- Alexandra Tolstaya, daughter of Russian author Leo Tolstoy, was a resident of the town in later life.
- Anthony Biase, producer, sports producer at WSVN in Miami.[citation needed]
- Audrey Landers and Judy Landers, acting sisters, grew up on Sherry Drive, a very scenic view from the top of the mountain.[1]
- Kim Kastens, an expert in marine geology specializing is plate tectonics in the Mediterranean, has been awarded The Excellence in Geophysical Education Award in 2009 from the American Geophysical Union. Kastens was chosen from three candidates for making significant contributions to four broad areas: geoscience education research, education of teachers, education of geosciences journalists and use of information technology.
- Jack Klugman, actor, stated in the Rockland County Journal newspaper, that he lived in Valley Cottage.
- Claudio Sanchez, of the well-known band Coheed & Cambria, uses Valley Cottage for much of his side project, The Prize Fighter Inferno. Sanchez is originally from nearby Nyack.
- Nicky Charles aka Nick Smirnoff radio personality on the Hudson Valley's WRWD County 107.3FM/1370AM [2] located in Poughkeepsie, NY.
See also
Books and publications
- Budke, George H. Rockland County during the American Revolution, 1776 - 1781. New York. The Rockland County Public Librarians Association. 1976
External links
References
