Rare Historic Maps Available For Free at Dutchess County Clerk

Seldom there is anything that you can get for free at the Dutchess County Court house. Well, let it be known that there is something pretty cool that you can get there now that doesn't require you to take antacid. There are copies of historic maps for two Dutchess County towns. The towns? Rhinebeck and Red Hook.

According to a press release from the Dutchess County Clerk, Bradford H Kendall the maps are from:

"A Field Book of a Number of Maps of Farms in the Town of Rhinebeck the Property of the Honourable John Armstrong, was filed in the County Clerk’s Office on December 26, 1842, as Field Book 89. The 48 maps included in the field book cover parcels ranging from small farms to a lot map of the modern village of Red Hook, dating back to 1795."

If you are a history or a map buff, like myself, it might be worth taking a look at the maps. You can actually go to the Dutchess County Clerks office, Market St, in Poughkeepsie or you can look at a digitized version by going to the County Clerk Document Search website, and then searching for them.

If you are interested in more historical events or to find out more about our area here are a few more places that you can investigate:

• Dutchess County Historical Society
• List of Historians in Dutchess County, by Town
• Ulster County Historical Society
• Orange County Historical Society 

What was it that got you interested in history? Was it a teacher when you were growing up or was it someone in your family?