Cornwall, New York


Cornwall is a town in Orange County, New York, United States, approximately north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was at 12,884. Cornwall has become a bedroom community for area towns and cities including New York City. Commuter rail service to North Jersey and New York City is available via the Salisbury Mills–Cornwall train station, operated by NJ Transit on behalf of Metro-North Railroad. The town is located less than an hour from the George Washington Bridge with access to major commuter routes such as the New York State Thruway and the Palisades Parkway.
Cornwall's Main Street includes gift shops, taverns, restaurants, coffeehouses, yoga studios and boutiques. Government offices, churches, parks, the riverfront, and St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital, a part of the Montefiore Health System, are situated within walking distance of downtown. The town is a designated Tree City.
Cornwall was the top selection to represent New York State in "The Best Places to Raise Kids 2013" by Bloomberg Business Week magazine.

Infrastructural Developments

Some of the infrastructural developments that took place in Cornwall in the past few decades are:
  • Construction of a new town hall on Main Street in 1997, replacing the old one built in 1872. The new town hall features a clock tower, a meeting room, and offices for various departments.
  • Expansion and renovation of the Cornwall Public Library in 2001, which included more space for books, computers, and programs. The library also received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to upgrade its technology equipment.
  • Completion of a new wastewater treatment plant on Shore Road in 2005. The new plant has a capacity of 1.5 million gallons per day and uses ultraviolet disinfection to reduce pollutants.
  • Installation of a solar array on the roof of the Cornwall Central High School in 2012. The project was funded by a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
  • Construction of a new bridge over Moodna Creek on Route 94 in 2018.

    Government

Local government

Some of the changes in local government that occurred in Cornwall in the past few years include:
  • The adoption of a new comprehensive plan for Cornwall in 2006.
  • The establishment of a town ethics board in 2010.
  • The creation of a town website in 2011.

    Federal government

A portion of the West Point Military Reservation is in Cornwall.

Education

Cornwall has a public school district that serves about 3,000 students in four schools: Cornwall Elementary School, Willow Avenue Elementary School, Cornwall Central Middle School, and Cornwall Central High School. The district offers various academic programs and extracurricular activities.
Cornwall also has two private schools: New York Military Academy and Storm King School. NYMA is a coeducational boarding school for grades 7-12 that offers a military-style education with an emphasis on leadership, character, and academics. NYMA was founded in 1889 and has produced notable alumni such as Donald Trump, Stephen Sondheim, and John Gotti Jr. Storm King School is a coeducational boarding and day school for grades 8-12 that offers a college preparatory curriculum with an emphasis on arts, sciences, and global citizenship. Storm King School was founded in 1867 and has produced notable alumni such as Whiting Willauer, Robert Torricelli, Walter Reade, Jack Hemingway, Cara Castronuova, Wally Pfister, and Balazs Szabo.

Culture

Cornwall has a rich cultural heritage that includes:
  • The Cornwall Historical Society Museum.
  • The Hudson Highlands Nature Museum.
  • The annual RiverFest.
  • The Cornwall Fall Festival.
  • The Storm King Art Center.

    History

When the explorer Henry Hudson visited the region in 1609 the land was occupied by the Waoraneck Indians. In 1685 a colony of twenty-five Scottish families settled around the mouth of the Moodna Creek, led by the soldier Major Patrick McGregor and his brother-in-law, David Toiseach, the laird of Monzievaird. In the ensuing 50 years, English and Scottish families came to the fertile tableland above the river meadows naming it "new Cornwall" because of the marked similarity to the County of Cornwall, England, It is believed that the hamlet of Canterbury was the site of this settlement. The first recorded town meeting was held in April 1765. In 1788, Orange County was subdivided into numerous townships, thus producing the town of "New Cornwall." The town's name was subsequently changed from "New Cornwall" to "Cornwall" in 1797. The late 1800s were the heyday of Cornwall's fame. It became a summer resort because of the natural beauty of the river, its mountain vistas, scenic trails, fresh country air and convenience to New York City via riverboat or railroad.
The area that became Cornwall was part of Governor Dongan's 1685 Tract. The Precinct of Cornwall was created in 1764. The Town was founded in 1788 as New Cornwall, which was changed in 1797 to Cornwall.

The nineteenth century

In the mid-19th century, Cornwall developed a reputation as a health retreat. Until the early 20th century, city folk flocked to the valley to experience the therapeutic powers they believed it to hold. The mountains, fresh air and evergreen forests were thought to offer the perfect conditions for good health and they were not far from the city. Cornwall, on the west side of the Hudson, became especially popular as a health retreat, offering numerous boarding houses and many conveniences of the day, including accessibility to the railroad and steamboats, as well as a telegraph office and large library.
Nathaniel Parker Willis, one of the Knickerbocker writers, enjoyed the time he spent here so much he bought property in Cornwall, establishing a country home he called Idlewild. His many writings on the area helped make Cornwall a popular spot for health-seekers. Winslow Homer, the famous water color artist, spent summers in the hamlet of Mountainville - then known as Ketcham Town - as a young artist and many of his pastoral themed water colors were made there and depict the local scenery.
Shifting attitudes toward a more healthy lifestyle began to make the Hudson Valley popular for outdoor activities and exercise. Hiking, rowing, swimming, fishing, hunting and biking all contributed to the development in the area of summer camps as well as the notion of the summer vacation.

Historic buildings

The A. J. Clark Store is located at 286 Main Street in downtown Cornwall. Archer Clark built the Italianate building to house his butcher shop around 1875, after an 1870 fire destroyed his earlier quarters. It would continue in existence in that building for a century. Later, one of his descendants converted it into a delicatessen. In 1996 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as an intact commercial building dating from Cornwall's days as a summer resort town in the late 19th century.
The Canterbury Presbyterian Church is located along Clinton Street in downtown Cornwall. A white stone and brick building in the Federal style, with later Colonial Revival style additions, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996. In 2018 the Church which had been in need of repairs was acquired and converted in to a Dance Studio. This helped bring much needed repairs to support the history of the building.
The Carvey–Gatfield House is a stone house along Angola Road in Cornwall. It was built in the first decade of the 19th century in the Federal style. The land was originally the property of Isaac Bobbin, an early settler, until subdivided into the present parcel and sold to Mathias Carvey in 1805, around the time the house was built. Carvey had bought the property from William Robinson, two owners removed from Bobbin, to support his mill on a nearby stream. He in turn sold it to Benjamin Gatfield, in whose family it would remain for almost a century. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The Oliver Brewster House is a Gothic Revival home located on Willow Avenue, across from Willow Avenue Elementary School. It was originally built as a farmhouse in the mid-19th century. Later, as Cornwall became a popular summer resort for visitors from New York City, it was expanded and renovated for use as a boardinghouse as well. In 1996 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Samuel Brooks House is located on Pleasant Hill Road north of the hamlet of Mountainville. Brooks, a descendant of one of Cornwall's oldest families, built this as a farmhouse around 1860. After the Civil War, summer boarders from New York City began coming to Cornwall, and Brooks quickly adapted it for use as a boardinghouse. Its location, near Schunemunk Mountain made it a desirable location for the summer boarders who made Cornwall a popular resort community in the late 19th century. In 1996 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Environmental advocacy

In 1962, a 17-year legal battle began that launched modern-day environmental activism. Consolidated Edison proposed building a giant hydroelectric plant on the river at Storm King Mountain near Cornwall. Despite pressure from local residents, Con Ed went forward with its plan, applying to the Federal Power Commission for a license to operate such a facility.
Three years later, after hearings and appeals and more hearings, the U. S. Court of Appeals set a precedent when it sent the case back to the FPC to start the process over again. Its reasoning was based on the commission's refusal to hear much of the environmental impact testimony the first time around. For the first time in U.S. history, a court had decided that protection of natural resources was just as important as economic gain. It prompted Congress to pass the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969, which requires an environmental impact study on all major projects needing approval from the federal government.