Wassaic station

Wassaic is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Amenia, Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population in 210. Located in southeastern New York in the valley of the Ten Mile River, Wassaic is bordered to the east and west by mountain ranges. The name of the hamlet is derived from the Native American word Washaic; "land of difficult access" or "narrow valley". However, Europeans found ready access by following the Housatonic River valley up from Long Island Sound and through the mountains along the Ten Mile River. One of the earliest recorded Europeans to settle in Wassaic was Richard Sackett. He petitioned the Colonial Government on March 11, 1703 for a license to purchase a tract of land in "Washiack". He was known as Captain Richard Sackett when appointed the first Dutchess County clerk in 1715.By the 1770s, Wassaic was processing Ancram pig iron into steel. This continued into the early 1800s, providing steel for the Harris scythe works at Hammertown, near Pine Plains in northern Dutchess. During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington marched through Wassaic on the way to Connecticut. Among Wassaic's main employers in the 19th century were Gridley Iron Works and the Harlem division of the New York and Harlem Railroad. In 1861, Gail Borden opened a factory for producing a condensed milk that would not need refrigeration. This was a welcome ration for the Union troops during the Civil War. Long sold by Borden, it is today marketed as Eagle Brand Condensed Milk. Wassaic was also known for dairy, sheep and grain farming. Wassaic is home to The Wassaic Project, a non-profit arts and music organization and the Wassaic Artist Residency. They provide summer programming as well as run an artist in residence program.

Beekman Park is a small local park in the census-designated place of Amenia, part of Dutchess County, New York. It is located on U.S. Route 44 and is visible off New York State Route 22 and New York State Route 343. In 1974, the land upon which the park is located was sold to the Town of Amenia by Walter Beekman for the sum of $1. The park was officially opened in 1983. Before the park existed, it was the site of Lake Amenia, formed in the 1920s by a freshwater dam over a sawmill pond at the intersection of Lake Amenia Road and West Lake Amenia Road. The dam's original use was to power a nearby saw mill where, with the new lake in place, people now had the opportunity to swim. During the 1920s, the lake became surrounded by cottages, pavilions, docks, and some railings.Lake Amenia remained intact for another 30 years, however, in 1955, Hurricane Diane struck the area and eradicated any trace of the lake. The storm's heavy rains caused the lake's water gates to fail. The resulting flood drained the lake. This area is now part of the New York State Wetlands. In 1974, the land that makes up the park, including the remains of the lake, now the wetlands, were sold to the Town of Amenia for a single dollar, by Walter Beekman. Groups of volunteers began construction on the park, which included ball fields. The park officially opened in 1983, with the first Little League games being played on one of their fields, with two more fields soon after. The park remains in active use to this date.

The Church of Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located in Amenia, Dutchess County, New York. It was established as a parish in 1866.

Amenia is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 3,769 at the 2020 census, down from 4,436 at the 2010 census. The town is on the eastern border of the county.

Beth David Synagogue, formally Congregation Beth David, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 3344 East Main Street (also state highway NY 343) in the hamlet of Amenia, New York, in the United States. It is a small brick European-style building erected in the late 1920s. It was built by the area's small community of Russian Jewish emigrants. Over the years, its membership has dwindled and it has moved from its original Orthodox affiliation to Conservative, and eventually to Reform practices. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, the only synagogue in New York east of the Hudson River and north of New York City to be listed.

Amenia is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 725 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The hamlet of Amenia is in the town of Amenia on U.S. Route 44 at the junction of Routes 22 and 343.

The Amenia station was a New York Central Railroad station that served the residents of Amenia, New York via the Harlem Line. It was 85 miles (136 km) from Grand Central Terminal and travel time to Grand Central was approximately two hours, sixteen minutes. The station consisted of a single low-level platform, on the west side of the single track line. Amenia was the only station on the Harlem Division named for one of the senses as opposed to a name derived from a person or object. Amenia means "pleasant", or pleasing to the eye.

The Harlem Valley Rail Trail is a paved rail trail on an abandoned portion of the New York and Harlem Railroad, north of the hamlet of Wassaic and easily accessible by train, one mile north of the start at the Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line terminus in Wassaic. It is owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP). It is maintained through an agreement between OPRHP, Dutchess County and the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association, a private not-for-profit organization. The former New York and Harlem main line was acquired by the New York Central Railroad in 1864, and became part of the Penn Central Railroad in 1968. After a severe PC bankruptcy in 1970, the line was abandoned for passenger service between Dover Plains and Chatham in 1972, though freight service continued over the line until 1976, when it was abandoned between Millerton and Ghent. The rest of the line was abandoned in 1980, but Metro-North restored service between Dover Plains and Wassaic in 2000. The abandoned rail line was converted into a public park in 1989. The rail trail opened in 1996, and was expanded in 1997, 2000, 2005 and 2020. It has been expanded northward as a 24.5 mile trail to Taconic State Park) with plans for an extension to Chatham, which would make the total length of the rail trail approximately 46 miles (74 km).

Indian Rock Schoolhouse, also known as District 3 Schoolhouse or Webutuck Country Schoolhouse, is located on Mygatt Road in the hamlet of Amenia, New York, United States. It is a wooden one-room schoolhouse built in the mid-19th century in accordance with a standard state plan for small rural schools that reflected contemporary educational reform movements. Of 12 such schools built in the Town of Amenia during that era, only this one survives mostly intact. It remained in use until 1927. In 2002 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since then it has been restored by a nearby private school and has been used for community events and historic education.

Hendrik Winegar House was a historic home located at Amenia in Dutchess County, New York. The structure was demolished after decades of neglect. It was a 2+1⁄2-story, rectangular house on a high basement built of thick fieldstone and brick walls, built about 1761. It had a steeply pitched gable roof. It was coated in stucco applied about 1850.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Maplebrook School is a small boarding school in Amenia, New York, that serves adolescents and young adults with learning differences.

The Lewis Mumford House is located on Leedsville Road (Dutchess County Route 2) in the Town of Amenia, New York, United States. It is a white Federal style building dating to the 1830s. Social philosopher, historian and cultural critic Lewis Mumford and his wife bought the house in the late 1920s, originally using it as a summer house. By the mid-1930s, they decided to make it their permanent residence for a few years. That period extended to more than half a century, the rest of Mumford's life. His experience of living in a rural area informed some of Mumford's thinking about cities and how they should be shaped. In 1999, a few years after his death, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.