Amenia
The original hamlet of Amenia was located a mile north of today’s Amenia. Stephen Hopkins, the largest land holder, donated the land for the Amenia Burying Ground and the Red Meeting House, which was built in 1758. Hopkins and his seven sons lived in the neighborhood. When the Amenia Precinct was formed in 1762, Stephen Hopkins was elected Supervisor and his son Michael was chosen Town Clerk. Roswell Hopkins was the Justice of the Peace. Roswell and his brothers served as officers in the Revolutionary War.
The present village of Amenia, once known as Payne’s Corners, and later as Ameniaville, was established at the crossroads of the Dutchess Turnpike and the old Albany Post Road after 1805. The advent of the Amenia Seminary in 1835 and the railroad in 1851 contributed to the development of the town. Four churches, two hotels, a theater, The Amenia Times newspaper, established in 1852, attest to Amenia’s growth in the 19th century. The arrival of Irish immigrants after the Civil War increased the population of the town and benefitted the iron industry and the dairy industry.
Wassaic
A hamlet in the south-central part of the town.
The first settler of Amenia, Richard Sackett, died in 1746 and was buried near his cabin, which was south of Wassiac, near the Steel Works. The Steel Works was so named for its production of steel as early as 1770. Cornelius Atherton was engaged in the manufacture of firearms at the Steel Works until 1777. A saw mill was there as early as 1740. A wool carding mill was established there in 1803.
In 1825, Nathaniel Gridley and others built an iron ore blast furnace on the banks of the Wassaic Creek and his son, Noah Gridley, built the unique charcoal kilns, which provided high quality charcoal for the blast furnace. The kilns are still standing at the foot of Deep Hollow Road. They are the only remaining structures of Amenia’s iron industry. Wassaic was a company town developed by the Gridley enterprises and expanded by the coming of the railroad and by Gail Borden’s New York Condensed Milk Company in 1860. Wassaic became a depot for the growing dairy industry in Amenia and the surrounding communities.
Amenia Union
A hamlet on the eastern town line on the border with Connecticut.
When the Winegar family moved to the Oblong Valley in 1724, Native People still traveled north and south along the Webutuck Creek. Amenia Union was called “Winegar’s” when their saw and grist mill on Mill Brook provided these services for new settlers in the area. In the early 1800s, it became known as “Hitchcock’s Corners”. The NY-CT boundary line was on the main street of the hamlet. There were two general stores, two blacksmith shops, two mills, two cemeteries, two schoolhouses, and a variety of small businesses. The Buckley iron foundry and the knitting factory were on the Connecticut side of the line, while the hotel and two churches were on the New York side of the line.
South Amenia
A hamlet at the junction of Routes 2 and 3 in the eastern part of the town.
The hamlet of South Amenia, previously known as Cline’s Corners, had a gristmill and saw mill, a hotel, a tannery, a cupola furnace, a store and post office, and a hat factory during the 1800’s. The South Amenia Presbyterian Church had begun as Rev. Knibloe’s congregation at Amenia Union in 1759 and then moved a mile and a half south after Knibloe died in 1785. Almost a century later the congregation built a new church at South Amenia in 1881.
Leedsville
Leedsville became a hamlet on the Webutuck Creek, north of Amenia Union, in the early 1800s, when a woolen factory was established there. The Benton family had already purchased the farm that later became known as “Troutbeck.” They brought with them a love of nature and literature, as well as, a devotion to agriculture and industry. In the early 1900s, the Spingarns acquired the country estate and sought to carry on the cultivation of gardens and intellect, as well as, the pursuit of racial justice and equality, through their leadership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Smithfield
A hamlet on the town line in the northwestern part of the town.
The hamlet of Smithfield was known as “The City” until 1889. In the 1800s, it had a mill, a store and post office, a schoolhouse, a shoemaker’s shop, an insurance business, a cemetery and the beautiful Greek Revival-style church, which still stands today. It is the third church edifice to stand on that spot. The first structure was built in 1750, the second in 1814 and the third in 1847. Because the church was located in the northwest corner of Amenia, the Smithfield Presbyterian Church congregation included families from the surrounding townships.
Elizabeth C. Strauss
Amenia Historical Society
2025