Ramapo, New York, United States

🇺🇸 Ramapo is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It was originally formed as New Hampstead, in 1791, and became Ramapo in 1828. It shares its name with the Ramapo River. It is the most populous town in New York outside of Long Island. If Ramapo were incorporated as a city, it would be the sixth-largest city in the state of New York.

The town's name, recorded variously as Ramopuck, Ramapock, or Ramapough, is of Lenape origin, meaning either "sweet water" or "slanting rocks". Early maps referred to Ramapo as Ramepog (1695), Ramepogh (1711), and Ramapog (1775).

The town is located south of Haverstraw and west of Clarkstown and Orangetown.

History The present-day town was originally inhabited by the Munsee, a band of the Lenape nation. Their descendants now live on Stag Hill in Mahwah, New Jersey, where they form the New Jersey-recognized Ramapo Lenape Nation.

During the American Revolutionary War, Commander-in-Chief George Washington is said to have climbed the Ramapo Torne (near Sloatsburg) with a telescope to watch the July 24, 1777 sailing of the British fleet off Sandy Hook in New Jersey. General Washington and his troops set up an encampment in Suffern, in the west of Ramapo, due to its strategic location near a local mountain pass. In this encampment were two French soldiers, Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. The encampment was on the path to Yorktown, Virginia, where the final battle of the American Revolution took place.

The Town of New Hampstead was formed from part of the Town of Haverstraw in 1791, eight years after the end of the Revolution; the name was changed to Hempstead in 1797, and to Ramapo in 1828.

The first railroad line across Rockland County was built in 1841 and ran from Piermont to Ramapo. By 1851, the line was extended to Lake Erie, and was considered an engineering marvel.

Ramapo Iron Works, located near present-day State Route 17 at the base of Terse Mountain, was a producer of first cut nails made in American, wood screws, cotton cloth, and spring steel in the first half of the 19th century. Its founder, Jeremiah H. Pierson, was influential in building the Nyack Turnpike and the New York & Erie Railroad across the county. A cotton mill is still standing on the east side of the road.

In 1916, what would become State Route 59, which reached from Nyack to Spring Valley in 1915, was extended to Suffern and Hillburn.

Ramapo was one of the first cities to use Adequate Public Facilities acts to tier growth and infrastructure together. The 1971 court case Golden v. Planning Board of Ramapo is the basis for the subsequent expansion of growth management practices, including the use of development impact fees.

In 2006 Money magazine ranked Ramapo as the 49th best place in the United States and the best place in New York State to live. Arts and leisure, business, housing, low crime rates and open spaces/parkland determined the town's ranking. In the category of park space, percentage of land set aside for gardens and parks, the town finished first. Ramapo received the highest rating and one of the best in the country for its open spaces and parkland.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 61.9 square miles (160 km²), of which 61.2 square miles (159 km²) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), or 1.11%, is water.

The southern town line is the border of New Jersey, and the western town line is the border of Orange County. The break in the Ramapo Mountains at Suffern formed by the Ramapo River causes the town to be the site of the New York State Thruway and I-287, New York State Route 17, and a railroad line. The Palisades Interstate Parkway runs through the north-eastern corner of the town, with an exit at the Haverstraw town line on the northern border.

Torne Mountain (1,130 ft or 340 m; shown on topographic maps as "High Torne"), in Harriman State Park, overlooks the Ramapo Pass and remnants of the once-thriving Ramapo Iron Works. During the American Revolution, the Torne served as a lookout for British ship movements on the Hudson. Legend tells that Gen. George Washington lost his watch on the mountain, and it may still be heard ticking up there in a crevice of rock.

The highest point in Ramapo is Squirrel Swamp Mountain near the northern border of the town, with an elevation of 1,252 feet (382 m).

Communities • The hamlet of Antrim, near the southern town line • The village of Airmont • The village of Chestnut Ridge • The village of Hillburn, in the south-western part of the town • The hamlet of Hillcrest • The village of Kaser • The hamlet of Monsey • The village of New Hempstead • The village of New Square • The village of Montebello • The hamlet of Ramapo, in the south-west part of the town. The hamlet of Ramapo and the town of Ramapo are often confused on many internet-based maps. • The hamlet of Sandyfield • The village of Sloatsburg • The village of Spring Valley • The hamlet of Sterlington, near Sloatsburg • The village of Suffern • The hamlet of Suffern Park, near Suffern • The hamlet of Tallman, in the southern part of the town • The hamlet of Viola, in the eastern part of the town • The village of Wesley Hills, in the north-eastern part of the town.