A history lesson with Millerton community’s Edward Downey

MILLERTON — Edward Downey, President of the North East Historical Society, recently reflected on his role in the community as town historian, how to access the archives and Millerton’s rich history.

The North East Historical Society

The North East Historical Society is a non-profit organization which aims to promote greater appreciation of the history of the Town of North East and the Village of Millerton.

“The function of the Historical Society is to essentially collect, curate, and make available to the public information about the history of the world,” Downey said of his work which also involves programming and grant-sourcing.

As Downey explained it, history can be both personal and possessive. “The two largest areas of interest, first of all, genealogy. People are trying to find family members and the history of their families,” Downey said. “The other thing people are often interested in is maybe the history of a property they own, when it was built, how long it’s in existence.”

The organization is in possession of archives dating back to the 18th century, with a handful from the late 1700s. Downey and Edith Greenwood, the vice-president of North East Historical Society, provide access to the archives through appointments Downey encourages interested parties to reach out to him for appointments by email.

The archives are located on the second floor of the NorthEast-Millerton Library. They cannot be checked out from their location.

“It’s not a museum. There’s a distinction between a museum and an archive. A museum is a space where there are exhibits,” said Downey.

Downey explained assistance is available while reviewing the archives. “We have an area where someone can sit and we can go through things with them,” said Downey, “but it’s more like research library.”

History of Millerton

Before the revolution, the boundary lines relating to the Town of North East varied over the years. In 1823, the current boundary lines for the towns were created.

“Millerton was really just kind of farmland until the New York and Harlem railroad decided to build a rail system from Grand Central Station up through Hudson, through the Harlem Valley, all the way up to the town of Chatham in Columbia County, where it linked with a railroad coming from Boston to Albany,” Downey said. “That line was started in about late 1840s. By 1851, it had gotten to what is now Millerton. And what was then just kind of farmland along the Weevitut Creek, because of the development, the arrival of that railroad, suddenly, people were building commercial buildings and they were building residential buildings all because of the railroad.”

Between 1851 and 1888, Millerton was surrounded by four different railroad systems, three which came from the western part of the county.

“It enabled the transportation, particularly of coal, to and from the western part of the county, probably from mining and other areas that were brought to those railheads to be loaded onto cars and shipped over into Connecticut where there [was] a lot of manufacturing going on,” said Downey. “Millerton became a very active railroad center because of all that. So in 1851, after the railroad had just gotten here, a group of people got together and decided to name this new hamlet Millerton.”

The Village of Millerton, named for railroad project engineer Sydney Miller, was created in 1875 as an incorporated village, creating a political subdivision for the town. The Village would ensure residents had their own municipal management, safety and more.

“At that time you couldn’t create separate districts to provide special services such as a water district or a fire service district, but Millerton... the feeling began to develop that, ‘We should have those sorts of things,’” Downey said. “And the only way you could do it then, under New York State of Law, was to create what’s called an incorporated village. It’s also still part of the town of Northeast, but it’s a special village, or certain special units of political subdivisions.”

According to Downey, there are three distinct things which have created what Millerton is known for today — landscape, talent and proximity to New York City.

“There’s a very important landscape... but it’s a rich, resourced landscape,” Downey said. “It’s supported in the early years of iron ore mining. It then supported wheat farming and apple farming... and now agriculture is more for the large sort of crops such as hay but also for vegetables and direct sale. So there’s this whole history of the community because of what its landscape is.

“The second thing that’s been important is that landscape... has attracted periodic ways of talented commercial people... whether it’s been in farming or in operating businesses in the village.” Downey said.

“The third factor... We are 100 miles from one of the largest and wealthiest municipalities in the world.”

In 2026, the 175th anniversary of the creation of the hamlet is being celebrated, thanks to the railroads which helped establish this settlement, but also thanks to its scenic features.

“Another feature of this landscape is its beauty,” marvelled Downey. “There’s just extraordinary views throughout the town and different areas.”

For more information, email Ed Downey, town historian, at eddowney12@gmail.com.