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Fishkill (town), New York

Fishkill, New York
Town
Downtown Fishkill
Downtown Fishkill
Official seal of Fishkill, New York
Seal
Location of Fishkill, New York
Location of Fishkill, New York
Coordinates: 41°31′40″N 73°54′54″W / 41.52778°N 73.91500°W / 41.52778; -73.91500Coordinates: 41°31′40″N 73°54′54″W / 41.52778°N 73.91500°W / 41.52778; -73.91500
Country United States
State New York
County Dutchess
Government
 • Type Town Council
 • Town Supervisor Bob LaColla (R)
 • Town Council
Area
 • Total 32.0 sq mi (82.9 km2)
 • Land 27.3 sq mi (70.8 km2)
 • Water 4.7 sq mi (12.1 km2)
Elevation 262 ft (80 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 22,107
 • Density 809/sq mi (312.2/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 12524, 12527
Area code(s) 845
FIPS code 36-25978
GNIS feature ID 0978958
Website www.fishkill-ny.gov

Fishkill is a town in the southwest part of Dutchess County, New York, United States. It lies approximately 60 miles (97 km) north of New York City. The population was 22,107 at the 2010 census. Fishkill partly surrounds the city of Beacon.

The town of Fishkill contains a village, which is also named Fishkill. The name derives from the Dutch vis kill, meaning "fish creek."

The location of Fishkill was known as Tioranda by the Native American peoples. The name means "The place where two waters meet".

In 1683 New York City merchants Francis Rombouts and Gulian Verplanck purchased 85,000 acres (340 km2) in Dutchess County from the Wappinger confederacy of Native Americans for a quantity of goods including rum, powder, and tobacco. Neither ever lived on the land, intending to use it only for fur trading. The first white settlers were Rombout's daughter, Catharyna, and her husband, Roger Brett, who built a mill at the mouth of Fishkill Creek as it flows into the Hudson River.

Fishkill played an important role in the American Revolutionary War when a huge military encampment was established one mile (1.6 km) below the village to guard the mountain pass to the south. Signal fires lay in readiness on tops of the surrounding mountains. The Fishkill encampment became the main supply depot for the northern division of the Continental Army. The first copies of the New York State Constitution were printed at Fishkill in 1777.


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