History of Pleasant Valley and the Pleasant Valley Fire Department

What is now the hamlet of Pleasant Valley was in 1762 referred to as Charlotte. At that time it was part of the Crum Elbow Precinct section of the Nine Partners Grant.

The Presbyterian Church was re-established here in 1765 as settlers moved west to take advantage of Wappingers Creek for waterpower. The church was incorporated in 1785 and was known as the Presbyterian Congregation of Pleasant Valley.

Malancton Smith who was a delegate to the Ratification of the U.S. Constitution at the courthouse in Poughkeepsie was a ruling elder in this church.

In 1788 Pleasant Valley became part of the Town of Clinton when the precincts were divided into townships.

The Methodist Church was originally built in 1827 on a site east of the American Legion Hall. The building was moved in winter to where we see it and recognize it as the Masonic Temple.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was built in 1842 by settlers from England who had come to work in the mill.

St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church began with services in a barn on the inn property across the street from where it currently stands. On its current site there was originally a small chapel built for services and the present building was erected in 1956.

The Quakers built their meeting house on the corner of North Avenue and Quaker Hill Road in 1810. This building is now owned by the Grange.

Amasa Angell was the first postmaster and was appointed to his position in 1812. Early on postmasters were appointed by the ruling political party, so from 1880 through 1897 the office regularly switched between postmasters Edward Drake and Wright Devine, both of whom were proprietors of general stores.

Farming was the main source of early revenue for the area, but it was closely followed by early industry, specifically milling. There were grain mills, cotton mills and fulling mills. The one mill to survive was Robert Abbot’s cotton and grain mill first built in 1808. 

The early maps of the village do not show names of roads and chances are they had different names than we are familiar with today. The Beers map of 1867 shows six schools in the hamlet as was required by law at that time. Traver Road School is the one location to survive and through its history it has had three different buildings. All of which had undergone renovations, or at times, the buildings had to be completely rebuilt to keep up with the growing population of the area.

There were three hotels on the main street. The only building still standing is The Roadhouse on the corner of Route 44 and Quaker Hill Road. When the railroad came through in 1871 there was an influx of summer visitors. They stayed at the hotels and at the farmhouses turned summer boarding houses to enjoy the scenery of the Hudson Valley and Pleasant Valley specifically.

Main Street Pleasant Valley, has been the location of the town’s library since 1903. It was first located west of Marine Midland Bank. It was moved to Route 44 at the junction of South Avenue in 1914. Its location now is the former manse of the Presbyterian Church.

There were more residences on the tree-lined street at the turn of the century and with its picket fences it had as much charm as Salt Point has today. 

The Village of Pleasant Valley was incorporated on May 5^th, 1814 and not long after the Village trustees set up a fire company. This is verified by a document appointing Jeremiah Clearwater as “a fireman in a company of firemen raised by authority of an act of the Legislature of the State of New York signed and sealed by William Thorn, President of the Pleasant Valley Village Trustees”, dated August 18^th, 1826.

Time marched on with no further mention of the Fire Company until 1903 when the John Knott Volunteer Fire Association appears as the agency created to respond to and handle all firefighting and emergency events in the village. Alfred Leith, Foreman, proposed that the Village accept the services of the fire company which the village did, in turn, accept. In 1907, the Village issued a proclamation (which can be found in a frame of Station # 1 Station # 1 meeting room) commending the John Knott organization for its dedication to protecting lives and property in Pleasant Valley and acknowledged them as the Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Company.

 It was from this document and the Pleasant Valley Fire Department drew the line to celebrate our 100th anniversary. The Fire Company was incorporated in the State of New York in 1913. That same year the fire company entered into a 5-year lease with “The Hall Company” for monthly meetings and other fire company functions. The lease was agreed upon at $15.00 per year and it included the use of the shed in the rear to house fire company equipment.

The area in and around Pleasant Valley was developing very quickly.  In 1946 the residents of the Hamlet of Salt Point petitioned Pleasant Valley Fire District Chief George Cady Sr., the Commissioners of the Pleasant Valley Fire District, the Town Supervisor Cecil Sherow, and Highway Superintendent Vince Gleason to form a Fire Company in the Hamlet of Salt Point. This was granted and the Salt Point Volunteer Fire Company was established in the old P&E Railroad Station on Cottage Street, in Salt Point NY, with their 1st meeting held on June 16, 1947.

Today, the Pleasant Valley Fire Department stands ready to protect the almost 10,000 residents of the fire district as well as those that work and travel through our beautiful town.