# Timeline of town creation in the Hudson Valley

The towns and cities of the Hudson Valley were created by the U.S. state of New York as municipalities, in order to perform the services of local government. In 1683, prior to the creation of modern towns, the Province of New York was divided into twelve counties for administrative purposes by the Colonial Governor of New York. In the Hudson Valley, these divisions included Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster counties. Dutchess and Orange remained unorganized until 1713, with Dutchess administered from Ulster; Orange would be administered from New York County. Future counties would be formed and towns exchanged over time, with Rockland County split from Orange in 1799, at which time the southern towns of Ulster were transferred to Orange as compensation for the loss; and Putnam County from Dutchess in 1812, these county's towns can trace their origins to towns and precincts that were formed in their parent counties. Another change that occurred was the transfer of Dutchess County's northern section, the Livingston Manor, to Columbia County. Greene County was formed in 1800 by the combination of the southernmost towns of Albany County with the northernmost towns of Ulster. The history of the towns of Greene and Columbia counties can be found at the Timeline of town creation in New York's Capital District.
New York experimented with different types of municipalities before settling upon the current format of towns and cities occupying all the land in a county, and all previous forms were transformed into towns (or divided into multiple towns) in 1788 when all of the state of New York was divided into towns. Some early forms of government in earlier years included land patents with some municipal rights, districts, precincts, and boroughs. Though originally intended to be mere "…involuntary subdivisions of the state, constituted for the purpose of the more convenient exercise of governmental functions by the state for the benefit of all its citizens" as defined by the courts in 1916 (Short v. Town of Orange), towns gained home rule powers from the state in 1964, at which time towns became "a municipal corporation comprising the inhabitants within its boundaries, and formed with the purpose of exercising such powers and discharging such duties of local government and administration of public affairs as have been, or, maybe conferred or imposed upon it by law."
The following is a timeline showing the creation of the current towns from their predecessors stretching back to the earliest municipal entity over the area. The timelines only represent which town(s) a particular town was created from and do not represent annexations of territory to and from towns that already existed. All municipalities are towns unless otherwise noted as patent, township, borough, district, or city.

## Dutchess County

| | | | | | | | | | | | | Beacon 1913 | Beacon 1913 | Beacon 1913 | Beacon 1913 | Beacon 1913 | Beacon 1913 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Wappinger 1875 | Wappinger 1875 | Wappinger 1875 | Wappinger 1875 | Wappinger 1875 | Wappinger 1875 |
| Rombout Precinct 1737–1788 | Rombout Precinct 1737–1788 | Rombout Precinct 1737–1788 | Rombout Precinct 1737–1788 | Rombout Precinct 1737–1788 | Rombout Precinct 1737–1788 | Fishkill 1788 | Fishkill 1788 | Fishkill 1788 | Fishkill 1788 | Fishkill 1788 | Fishkill 1788 | East Fishkill 1849 | East Fishkill 1849 | East Fishkill 1849 | East Fishkill 1849 | East Fishkill 1849 | East Fishkill 1849 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Freedom 1821 (LaGrange from 1828) | Freedom 1821 (LaGrange from 1828) | Freedom 1821 (LaGrange from 1828) | Freedom 1821 (LaGrange from 1828) | Freedom 1821 (LaGrange from 1828) | Freedom 1821 (LaGrange from 1828) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Union Vale 1827 | Union Vale 1827 | Union Vale 1827 | Union Vale 1827 | Union Vale 1827 | Union Vale 1827 |
| Beekman Precinct 1737–1788 | Beekman Precinct 1737–1788 | Beekman Precinct 1737–1788 | Beekman Precinct 1737–1788 | Beekman Precinct 1737–1788 | Beekman Precinct 1737–1788 | Beekman 1788 | Beekman 1788 | Beekman 1788 | Beekman 1788 | Beekman 1788 | Beekman 1788 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Pawling's Precinct 1768–1788 | Pawling's Precinct 1768–1788 | Pawling's Precinct 1768–1788 | Pawling's Precinct 1768–1788 | Pawling's Precinct 1768–1788 | Pawling's Precinct 1768–1788 | Pawling 1788 | Pawling 1788 | Pawling 1788 | Pawling 1788 | Pawling 1788 | Pawling 1788 | Dover 1807 | Dover 1807 | Dover 1807 | Dover 1807 | Dover 1807 | Dover 1807 |
| Crum Elbow Precinct 1737–1762 | Crum Elbow Precinct 1737–1762 | Crum Elbow Precinct 1737–1762 | Crum Elbow Precinct 1737–1762 | Crum Elbow Precinct 1737–1762 | Crum Elbow Precinct 1737–1762 | Amenia Precinct 1762–1788 | Amenia Precinct 1762–1788 | Amenia Precinct 1762–1788 | Amenia Precinct 1762–1788 | Amenia Precinct 1762–1788 | Amenia Precinct 1762–1788 | Amenia 1788 | Amenia 1788 | Amenia 1788 | Amenia 1788 | Amenia 1788 | Amenia 1788 |
| | | | | | | Charlotte Precinct 1762–1788 (Clinton from 1786) | Charlotte Precinct 1762–1788 (Clinton from 1786) | Charlotte Precinct 1762–1788 (Clinton from 1786) | Charlotte Precinct 1762–1788 (Clinton from 1786) | Charlotte Precinct 1762–1788 (Clinton from 1786) | Charlotte Precinct 1762–1788 (Clinton from 1786) | Washington 1788 | Washington 1788 | Washington 1788 | Washington 1788 | Washington 1788 | Washington 1788 | Stanford 1793 | Stanford 1793 | Stanford 1793 | Stanford 1793 | Stanford 1793 | Stanford 1793 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pleasant Valley 1821 | Pleasant Valley 1821 | Pleasant Valley 1821 | Pleasant Valley 1821 | Pleasant Valley 1821 | Pleasant Valley 1821 |
| Rhinebeck Precinct 1737–1788 | Rhinebeck Precinct 1737–1788 | Rhinebeck Precinct 1737–1788 | Rhinebeck Precinct 1737–1788 | Rhinebeck Precinct 1737–1788 | Rhinebeck Precinct 1737–1788 | | | | | | | Clinton 1788 | Clinton 1788 | Clinton 1788 | Clinton 1788 | Clinton 1788 | Clinton 1788 | Hyde Park 1821 | Hyde Park 1821 | Hyde Park 1821 | Hyde Park 1821 | Hyde Park 1821 | Hyde Park 1821 |
| | | | | | | Rhinebeck 1788 | Rhinebeck 1788 | Rhinebeck 1788 | Rhinebeck 1788 | Rhinebeck 1788 | Rhinebeck 1788 | Red Hook 1812 | Red Hook 1812 | Red Hook 1812 | Red Hook 1812 | Red Hook 1812 | Red Hook 1812 |
| Poughkeepsie Precinct 1737–1788 | Poughkeepsie Precinct 1737–1788 | Poughkeepsie Precinct 1737–1788 | Poughkeepsie Precinct 1737–1788 | Poughkeepsie Precinct 1737–1788 | Poughkeepsie Precinct 1737–1788 | Poughkeepsie 1788 | Poughkeepsie 1788 | Poughkeepsie 1788 | Poughkeepsie 1788 | Poughkeepsie 1788 | Poughkeepsie 1788 | Poughkeepsie City 1854 | Poughkeepsie City 1854 | Poughkeepsie City 1854 | Poughkeepsie City 1854 | Poughkeepsie City 1854 | Poughkeepsie City 1854 |
| North Precinct 1737–1746 (Also known as Northeast) | North Precinct 1737–1746 (Also known as Northeast) | North Precinct 1737–1746 (Also known as Northeast) | North Precinct 1737–1746 (Also known as Northeast) | North Precinct 1737–1746 (Also known as Northeast) | North Precinct 1737–1746 (Also known as Northeast) | Northeast 1788 | Northeast 1788 | Northeast 1788 | Northeast 1788 | Northeast 1788 | Northeast 1788 | Milan 1818 | Milan 1818 | Milan 1818 | Milan 1818 | Milan 1818 | Milan 1818 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Pine Plains 1823 | Pine Plains 1823 | Pine Plains 1823 | Pine Plains 1823 | Pine Plains 1823 | Pine Plains 1823 |