Land Management

As early as 1787, Jonathan Van Wagenen began purchasing land within Lot #5 of the original New Paltz patent. In a series of three deeds he purchases land, described as “A Stone Set in the ground for a Division Between Said - Lot N.5 and Lot N.4 on the Most Northerly Angle of Said Lot Marked N.4 on the West Side- from thence Runing [sic] South fiftyEight Degrees And thirty minutes East Twelve Chains and Seventeen- Links to a Stone Set in the ground for a Division Between Said Lot N.5 and N.6 marked 5. on One Side and 6 on the Other Side...” This very clearly described the land in question to those signing off on the purchase but today there is very little in this description that allows us to know what area of New Paltz is being described.

In 1800 he entered an agreement with George Wirtz to erect a sawmill on the brook that ran through their two properties.

Land Management