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Warwick Then & Now
by Professor Richard W. Hull

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The following brief essay about Warwick was written expressly for Warwick Living
by Richard W. Hull, Professor of History at New York University and author of:
People of the Valleys Revisited: A History of Warwick, 1700-2005.

Warwick Then & Now

The town of Warwick is a fascinating study in striking contrasts.

Located in the picturesque and historic Hudson River Valley less than 40 miles from New York City, Warwick's breathtaking geographical expanse embraces almost 34,000 people residing in three incorporated villages, ten culturally-distinct hamlets and within view of near-pristine acres of woodlands, freshwater wetlands, and active farms providing dairy products, fruit, and an array of vegetables. Warwick is only minutes from one of America's largest ski centers and is intersected by the famed Appalachian Trail. It is buffered from the New York metropolis by a matrix of greenbelts of federal, state, and county-protected parklands for active and passive public recreation. The town is laced with streams and rivers that rise in the surrounding mountains and drain into ponds, lakes and marshes that support fragile habitats of floral, faunal and aquatic communities.

This diverse environment that sustains our community has attracted homesteaders since the arrival of the Indians some 12,000 years ago. White and black settlers followed in the mid-18th century as independent farmers. Warwick, founded as a town in 1788, grew explosively after the coming of the railroad in 1860 and by the century's turn this was a major agricultural community in New York State. Farms and small businesses flourished.

Though suburbanization began in the 1960s and continues to accelerate, Warwick still exudes a delightfully bucolic and small-town atmosphere. Its rich past is preserved by no less than three historical societies that maintain ten museums, by a federally-designated Historic District, by three public libraries with vast collections, by two high schools and a plethora of public and private primary and preschool institutions and by three weekly newspapers that have been published continuously for more than a century and a half.

With their own capital and vision Warwick residents over the century have built their own rail network, their own general hospital, their own private telecommunications system, their own radio and television stations, and much more. Indeed, Warwick has always been a community of public-spirited activists and volunteers. It is a community known for its internationally-recognized artists, dramatists, musicians, scholars, entrepreneurs, and professional innovators.

Warwick is a community with few pretensions where individuals are respected more for the content of their character than for their material wealth or family background. It is a community where the farmer meets the teacher and the rabbi shares thoughts with pastor and priest. For the spiritually-inclined, there are dozens of churches, synagogues, and centers for trans-religious meditation. There are galleries, studios and workshops to satisfy our aesthetic needs and quaint country inns and taverns that cater to our gastronomical inclinations. As one visitor put it, "Warwick is a friendly welcoming community with a dynamic civil spirit and pride, a strong sense of its past, and a vision of where it wants to be in the 21st century and beyond. It's the quintessential American Hometown".

- Richard W. Hull
Professor of History, New York University
Author of: People of the Valleys Revisited: A History of Warwick, 1700-2005.

( For information on how to purchase Professor Hull's Book Click Here )

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Marsha Talbot, Associate Broker, Rand Realty, 25 Railroad Ave., Warwick, NY 10990
Phone 845-986-4848 ext. 117
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No one pays to be listed on this site. The listings on this website are provided for informational purposes only. The presence of a name or link on this website does not in any way constitute an endorsement of the products or services offered by any of those persons or businesses listed. This website and the descriptions on each of its pages are copyright (c) 2006 by Marsha Talbot and may not be used in any form, printed, electronic, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the copyright owner.
This page is located at www.warwickliving.com/history and was last updated December 2008