New Lebanon Town

Columbia County, New York

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New Lebanon Town Hall is located at 14755 Route 22 North, New Lebanon NY 12125.
Phone: 518‑794‑8888.

Neighborhoods

Beginnings [1]

The Town of New Lebanon was formed in 1818, separated from the Town of Canaan. The area was settled by the New York Dutch, who preferred the alluvial creek flats of the Hudson River terraces that lay only a short distance to the west. Nevertheless, a significant road leading from Albany, New York, into New England, traversed this area and drew the attention of New England men. The area was thinly settled as early as 1750; in November 1754, 44 men, primarily from New England, purchased the Six Mile Tract from the Stockbridge Indians. Believing the land to be in Massachusetts, the deed was recorded in Hampshire County, MA; but by February 1759, these men were petitioning to New York provincial authorities, requesting a New York patent for their purchase. The patent was not forthcoming and remained unresolved until after the American Revolution.

After the American Revolution, when the county of Columbia was formed in 1786, the King's District was re-named the Town of Canaan. In 1788 the New York State legislature passed the Canaan Act which finally granted title to the lands which people then possessed. When New Lebanon was established, in 1818, the 1820 census showed 2,802 persons in New Lebanon, and 2,079 in New Canaan, from which it had separated.

  1. Ruth Piwonka, Kinderhook NY and Peter Shaver, New York State Historic Preservation Office, Donnelly House, Columbia County, New York, nomination document, 2000, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.

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