Mahopac, New York (NY)
10541

History

Mahopac and Mahopac Falls played central roles in the history of Putnam County.

Originally inhabited by the Wappinger Native Americans, an Algonquin tribe, the hamlet's land was patented in 1697 by Adolphus Philipse, son of a wealthy Anglo-Dutch gentryman. During the French and Indian War Wappingers throughout Putnam County traveled north to Massachusetts to fight for the British.

When the Crown refused to return their land after the war, most Wappingers abandoned the area and joined with other displaced Native Americans elsewhere. Farmers and their families migrated to Mahopac from as far away as Cape Cod and rented land from the Philipse family. Wheelwrights and blacksmiths set up shops to assist the tenant farmers.

Although no battles were fought in Mahopac during the American Revolution, the area was strategically important due to its location. With troop encampments in nearby Patterson, Yorktown, West Point, and Danbury, Connecticut, it was a cross-roads between key Colonial garrisons.

Soldiers were also stationed in Mahopac Falls to guard the Red Mills, an important center for grinding grain and storing flour for the American troops.

Upon Colonial victory in the Revolution the Tory-sympathizing Philipse family lost its claim to the land, which was then resold to farmers by New York State.

After the incorporation of Putnam County in 1812 the Mahopac area grew steadily. By the middle-1800s the hamlet had become a summer resort community. The New York Central Railroad brought vacationers north from New York City to Croton Falls then transferred them via horse-drawn coach to Lake Mahopac. After the Civil War a direct rail spur was laid, creating boom times for the village.

The locale remained primarily a summer resort until after World War II, when nearby highways such as the Taconic State and Saw Mill River parkways began to make travel by automobile convenient. With the passing of the last passenger service to Mahopac in 1959 the hamlet evolved into a year-round community, many of its residents making the reverse commute to New York City.

During the summer of 1956 Richard Yates moved to Mahopac with his family and wrote much of his most famous novel Revolutionary Road in the wellhouse of the estate on which he lived.

About Mahopac

The hamlet of Mahopac encircles a picturesque 587-acre lake, from which it draws its name. Lake Mahopac contains three islands, Fairy, Petre, and Canopus, all privately owned. Fairy Island sports multiple homes accessible via a short causeway; Petre boasts a single Frank Lloyd Wright designed residence, the A. K. Chahroudi Cottage; and Canopus has undeveloped land available for purchase. Boating, fishing and other water sports are permitted on the lake. Slips and support services are provided by two marinas.

Besides Lake Mahopac other lakes include Lake Secor, Lake MacGregor, Kirk Lake, Lake Casse, Long Pond, Wixon Pond, and Bryant Pond.

Mahopac has a state of the art 33,000-square-foot library, featuring multiple reading rooms overlooking Lake Mahopac, abundant computers, a law library and conference rooms.

The Carmel Historical Society Museum in the Old Town Hall on McAlpin Avenue features many fascinating area artifacts.

While the hamlet of Carmel is the seat of the county government, the largest population center in the township of Carmel, Mahopac, hosts the Town Hall. Both Mahopac (10541) and Mahopac Falls (10542) have their own post offices.

Mahopac Falls

In Colonial times a large grist mill sat near the present-day intersection of Route 6N, Hill Street, and Myrtle Avenue. Drawing its water from the streams that drained Kirk Lake and Lake Mahopac, it was the largest building in the entire county. Early settlers to the area, tenant farmers renting land from the Philipse family, provided grain for its wheel. Over time the mill's red paint came to identify the area, known to this day as 'Red Mills'.

It was the falls of the waters of the pond that drove the mill that gave the larger community comprising the southern half of the hamlet of Mahopac the name "Mahopac Falls".

Today, although the famous mill there is gone, one of its original millstones forms a part of the front steps of the Red Mills Branch of Mahopac National Bank.