Haverstraw, NY – The Town of Haverstraw was founded in 1666, but the area has been known as “Haverstroo” on Dutch maps since as early as 1616.

In 1609 Henry Hudson, an Englishman employed by the Dutch East India Company, sailed his ship, the Half Moon, up the river that would bear his name in a vain search for the legendary Northwest passage. He sailed as far as what is now Albany and on the return trip the Half Moon anchored in what is now Haverstraw Bay, the widest point in the river. The name of Haverstraw is one of the oldest in the geography of North America. The location of Haverstraw was important to the defense of the colonies in the Revolutionary War because of its place on the banks of the Hudson, the main artery of trade between New York City and Albany and the dividing line between New England and other colonies.