Barrytown, New York

Former post office and general store at Barrytown

Barrytown is a hamlet within the town of Red Hook in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is within the Hudson River Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and comprises four of the Hudson River Valley estates: Edgewater, Messina, Rokeby, and Sylvania. The Messina Property, at the northern sector of the hamlet was purchased in 1929 by the New York District of the Roman Catholic religious congregation Brothers of the Christian Schools who established on that site the St. Joseph's Normal Institute as a teacher training facility for their Junior and Senior Novices. In the early 1970s the property was bought by the Unification Church, where its Unification Theological Seminary is located. The majority of the houses in Barrytown were built in the mid to late nineteenth century, often with the purpose to house workers at the local estates and accompanying farms. Barrytown was named in honor of President Andrew Jackson's Postmaster General, William Taylor Barry, who served in that capacity from 1829 to 1835.

Cultural References

In the song "Barrytown" recorded by Steely Dan on the 1974 album Pretzel Logic, Donald Fagen refers to the hamlet of Barry Town. The lyrics references the eccentric characters who have been reputed to live in Barrytown.

External links

• Springtime in Barrytown - Article on Barrytown by Unification Theological Seminary