Niverville, New York

History

Niverville was first settled by the Dutch; the first house was built circa 1707 by Louren Lourenson Van Alen, who obtained the Kinderhoeck Patent—a land grant—in 1629 from Jan Hendrickse DeBruyn, including the area now known as Niverville. Located within the hamlet, Kinderhook Lake—originally called Wogasawoochuk or "Big Fish Lake" by the Mohican early Native American inhabitants—provided fertile, peat-rich soil that supported numerous orchards and farms.

The Niver cousins—John Niver and John M. Niver—emigrated to the area from Germany in the early nineteenth century. They built the first gristmill for rye flour; their prosperity built the Niver mansion just across the bridge along County Route 28 in 1848. The hamlet was ultimately named "Niverville" after the prosperous Nivers, although it was long known as Kinderhook Station, after its Boston and Albany Railroad, and Kinderhook and Hudson Railroad turntable, built in 1841. The railroad restaurant known as the Van Hoesen House (not to be confused with the Jan Van Hoesen House some 20 miles south in Claverack) has since become the Niverville Pub.

In 1846, the Niverville Post Office was established with less than twenty business and residential addresses. Niverville's first park—Kinderhook Lake Park, aka The Old Park—was established in 1870 as a picnic and meeting place.

From the History section of Niverville, New York on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.