Rhinecliff is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) located along the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

in the town of Rhinebeck in northern

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Rhinecliff was 425.

History

Today’s Rhinecliff was founded by Europeans in 1686 as the town of ''Kipsbergen'' by five Dutchmen, among them Hendrikus and Jacobus Kip. They moved from

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

on the west bank to live in the new settlement along the eastern shore of the Hudson. By this time England had already taken over New Netherland, the former Dutch colony that included Manhattan. The

Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

's Rhinebeck station opened in 1851 at Slate Dock and was relocated south to Shatzell's Dock the next year.

Charles Handy Russell Charles Handy Russell (September 13, 1796 – January 21, 1884) was a prominent American merchant and banker with the National Bank of Commerce in New York. Early life Russell was born on September 13, 1796, in Newport, Rhode Island. He was the ...

, a real estate developer and owner of the ferry service to Kingston, created a small village around the relocated station. It was originally called Shatzellville, then Boormanville after railroad president James Boorman. Russell's architect and builder, George Veitch, invented the name "Rhinecliff" in reference to Rhinebeck and the nearby cliffs. (Contrary to popular rumor, the hamlet was not named after the

Wyndcliffe Wyndcliffe is the ruin of a historic mansion near Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York. The records at the Library of Congress state that the brick mansion was originally named Rhinecliff and constructed in 1853 in the Norman style. The mansi ...

estate, which was never formally called "Rhinecliff".) The

Rhinecliff Hotel Rhinecliff Hotel is a historic hotel located at Rhinecliff, Dutchess County, New York. It was built about 1855 and is a two- to three-story, L-shaped frame building. It is built into the side of a steep hill and features a two-story verandah and ...

opened around 1855, and the post office was renamed Rhinecliff in 1861. Anna L. and

Levi P. Morton Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as List of ambassadors of the United States to France, United States ambassador to France, as a United States H ...

, who owned the nearby Ellerslie estate, constructed and endowed the Morton Memorial Library in Rhinecliff in memory of their daughter Lena. It was dedicated as a library in 1908.

Geography

Rhinecliff is located in the western part of the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Rhinebeck, west of Rhinebeck village. It is directly across the Hudson River from the city of Kingston. The closest river crossing is the

Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge The George Clinton Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge is a continuous under-deck truss toll bridge that carries NY 199 across the Hudson River in New York State north of the City of Kingston and the hamlet of Rhinecliff. It was opened to traff ...

(

New York State Route 199 New York State Route199 (NY199) is a state highway located in the Hudson Valley of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Its western end is in Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, where it begins as the continuation of the short U.S. ...

), to the north. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Rhinecliff CDP has a total area of , of which , or 1.37%, is water. RhinecliffFD1

Rhinecliff is one of the oldest intact hamlets along the Hudson River and is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as a contributor to the Hudson River National Historic Landmark District. At long, this historic district is the largest

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

(NHL) designation in the country. Rhinecliff is also included in the Local Waterfront Redevelopment Program (LWRP). It is designated a Scenic Area of Statewide Significance (SASS), a contributor to the DEC Mid-Hudson Historic Shorelands Scenic District, a contributor to DEC Scenic Roads designations, and is in the Hudson River National Heritage Corridor. The hamlet serves as the water and rail gateway to the larger Town of Rhinebeck. The hamlet is demarcated by large agricultural and wooded area to the north, east, and south, and bounded by the Hudson River on the west. Steep topography, formed by contorted slate ridges and valleys, define the site-specific and seemingly random orientation of the small, frame nineteenth-century houses and winding narrow roads. The hamlet had a mid-nineteenth century building boom, but its boundaries and building density have changed very little over the last one hundred years.

Government

As part of the town of Rhinebeck, the hamlet of Rhinecliff is included within the jurisdiction of the town government. A proposal to build a large contemporary residence overlooking the Hudson on Grinnell Street in the hamlet is generating controversy in Rhinecliff. Several Rhinecliff residents have spoken out against the proposal, objecting to the size of the proposed residence, its modern style, and that it blocks views of the Hudson River and

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. Other Rhinecliff residents have defended the proposal, arguing it will be a beautiful addition to the hamlet and that it blends the historic and the modern in a creative way. In 2014 the matter was before the Rhinebeck Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.

Education

It is within the

Rhinebeck Central School District Rhinebeck Central School District (Rhinebeck CSD) is a school district primarily in the Town of Rhinebeck in the Hudson Valley region of the U.S. state of New York. The district is situated along the East Bank of the Hudson River and is approx ...

Notable people

Nearby notables, past and/or present, have included

Vincent Astor William Vincent Astor (November 15, 1891 – February 3, 1959) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and member of the prominent Astor family. Early life Called Vincent, he was born in New York City on November 15, 1891. Astor was the eld ...

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

, and

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American Portrait photography, portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid ...

In popular culture

According to her biographer

Louis Auchincloss Louis Stanton Auchincloss (; September 27, 1917 – January 26, 2010)Holcomb B. Noble and Charles McGrath''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 27, 2010. was an American lawyer, novelist, historian, and essayist. He is best known as a novel ...

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

was a frequent childhood visitor who later described the

mansion as "The Willows" in ''Hudson River Bracketed''. In her autobiography, ''A Backward Glance'' (1933), Mrs. Wharton wrote about Wyndcliffe and her aunt.

References

External links

Morton Memorial Library and Community House

Rhinecliff.org
local community website {{authority control Hamlets in New York (state) New York (state) populated places on the Hudson River Rhinebeck, New York Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area Census-designated places in Dutchess County, New York Census-designated places in New York (state) Hamlets in Dutchess County, New York