Peach Lake, New York

Peach Lake, New York
CDP
Location in Putnam County and the state of New York.
Location in Westchester County and the state of New York.
Coordinates: 41°21′49″N 73°34′28″W
Country	United States
State	New York
Counties	Putnam, Westchester
Towns	Southeast, North Salem
Area
• Total	3.1 sq mi (7.9 km2)
• Land	2.7 sq mi (7.0 km2)
• Water	0.4 sq mi (0.9 km2)
Elevation	561 ft (171 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	1,629
• Density	530/sq mi (210/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code	36-56869
GNIS feature ID	1867413

Peach Lake is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located mostly in the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York; a portion of the CDP is in the town of North Salem in Westchester County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,629.

The community of Peach Lake is located on the northeast side of a lake with the same name. The lake itself is in two counties. The community is south of Interstate 84.

History

Peach Lake is in two towns (North Salem and Southeast) and two counties (Westchester and Putnam). Peach Lake was originally farmed by several families. On the west side of the lake were the Bloomer and Palmer families, on the north side the Ryder family in the town of Southeast, and the Vail family were on the east side of the lake.

Prior to 1731, the eastern edge of the Bloomer farm was the border of Connecticut. The area from there to the current state border was given to New York as part of the OBLONG, EQUIVALENCY or Connecticut's Panhandle agreement.

The area was a strong dairy community from the 1850s through 1915, when the Borden Condensed Milk factory was in production in Brewster, New York. By 1915, the factory closed after New York City condemned much of the property along the rivers and lakes in the area to protect the water quality flowing into the newly created Croton Reservoir system.

The Bloomer family, originally from Rye, New York, started farming the property on the west side of the lake prior to 1760. In 1762 they purchased the land and built, along with the Palmer family, the Peach Lake Meeting House (Quaker Meeting house) at the southeast corner of the Lake. This Peach Lake meeting house, like many others starting at Long Island Sound and heading north, was built in the disputed area between the Connecticut and New York colonies called the Oblong.

The Vails family ran the dairy farm on the east side of the lake.

The Ryder family, who have for generations controlled the Putnam County National Bank, have farmed land on the northern end of Peach Lake since the 18th century.

North Salem was part of the tribal land of a Wappinger Indian band known as the Kitawonks (or Kitchawanks), who laid claim to all the lands bordering the Kitchewan or Croton River that separates North Salem from present-day Somers. The lake and surrounding area was called Pechquenakonck by the Indian population. Dutch documents, such as Van der Donck’s 1656 History of New Netherland, mention the area. Other maps from Dutch archives, circa 1685, show the "Indian Tribes of the New World" and locations of Indian villages, including Pechquenakonck at Peach Lake. During 1600 and 1700s the lake was called Lake Pehquenakonck. Later it was called Peach Pond, which was a derivation of the Indian Pech-Quen. By the mid-1800s, the name was changed again to Peach Lake. The local elementary school is called Pequenakonck (pronounced pee-kwon-a-konk), and the Country Club at Bloomerside Cooperative is called Pehquenakonck Country Club.

There are four large residential communities around Peach Lake. There are three cooperatives: Bloomerside and Vails after the original farming families, Pietsch Gardens Cooperative originally owned by the Pietsch family (purchased in 1926 from the Teagarden family) and Northern Westchester Country Club (aka Hotel Property) formerly owned by the Palmer family in the early 19th century. These four communities comprise approximately 460 homes which started as summer homes and communities about 1914.

Geography

Peach Lake is located at 41°21′49″N 73°34′28″W (41.363521, -73.574454).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²), of which 2.7 square miles (7.0 km²) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²), or 11.76%, is water.

Peach Lake water body

The water body Peach Lake is located in the towns of North Salem and Southeast. The lake is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide at its center. It was created by springs in the ground, which built up over time. One can see the situation that confronted many of the early settlers by looking at the southernmost section of the lake, which, just below the surface of the water, is littered with many smaller rounded rocks.

Peach Lake drops to a depth of about 24 feet (7.3 m) at its deepest point. The western side of the lake is deeper than the eastern side, a happenstance of the final glacial gouging. A sharp thermocline is present at a depth of about 11 to 13 feet (3.4 to 4.0 m) where the water temperature may change 15 °F (−9 °C) within an inch. This thermocline protects the lake from excessive weed growth in areas of the lake that are deeper than the thermocline layer as it is simply too cold for the weeds to start growing. This temperature gradient is caused by the natural springs that feed the lake. There are no rivers entering the lake and only a very small intermittent stream on the southeastern corner.

The lake is a Class B reservoir for the New York City water supply system and outflows north into the East Branch Reservoir in the town of Southeast, which is part of the Croton Reservoir system.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,671 people, 617 households, and 468 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 619.2 per square mile (239.0/km²). There were 743 housing units at an average density of 275.3/sq mi (106.2/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 97.19% White, 0.54% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.42% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.63% of the population.

There were 617 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.0% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.1% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the CDP, the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $72,222, and the median income for a family was $82,222. Males had a median income of $55,529 versus $39,479 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $33,340. None of the population or families were below the poverty line.