Mahopac, New York

Mahopac /ˈmɑː.hoʊˌpæk/ is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the town of Carmel in Putnam County, New York. An exurb some 47 miles (76 km) north of New York City, Mahopac is located on US Route 6 on the county's southern central border with Westchester County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,369.

History

Mahopac and Mahopac Falls have played central roles in the history of Putnam County.

Originally inhabited by the Wappinger Native Americans, an Algonquian tribe, the hamlet's land was patented in 1697 by Adolphus Philipse, son of a wealthy Anglo-Dutch gentryman. During the French and Indian War, Wappingers throughout Putnam County traveled north to Massachusetts to fight for the British.

When the Crown refused to return their land after the war, most Wappingers abandoned the area and joined with other displaced Native Americans elsewhere. Farmers and their families migrated to Mahopac from as far away as Cape Cod and rented land from the Philipse family. Wheelwrights and blacksmiths set up shops to assist the tenant farmers.