Beekman

Beekman, a sprawling town located in southern Dutchess County, has a population is 14,600. Henry Beekman, an early landowner, gave his name to the town. During his life, the 30 square mile area was Dutchess’ second-largest land holding. The town has five hamlets: Beekman, Clove Valley, Poughquah, Green Haven and Silver Lake.

Today, thanks to business and industrial expansion, Beekman is one of the county’s fastest growing towns. The town is well-located for travel, sitting east of the Taconic Parkway and north of Interstate 84. Route 55 provides a direct route to Poughkeepsie, which is the county’s main retail and dining area.

Beekman has some unique shopping opportunities. The Stormville Airport Antiques Show and Flea Market is held six times a year, and features over six hundred vendors. The show draws locals and visitors from around the the region. And while there are many pick-your-own farms offering apples, Barton Orchards has expanded choices which include peppers, tomatoes, peaches and grapes. Visitors may also take advantage of food concessions and, and visit the farm’s animals.

The proximity to Poughkeepsie is a plus. There is no direct train service in Beekman, but Metro-North’s two final stops, New Hamburg and Poughkeepsie, are nearby. Entertainment can be found at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, the site for trade shows and performances. Recent shows include Riverdance, Sesame Street Live, Frankie Valli and Chicago. It’s also the home of the Hudson Valley Bears hockey team.

Summer camps, swimming lessons, sports and senior programs are some of choices offered by the town’s recreation department. There are three parks with a variety of amenities, including playing fields and nature trails.

Most of the students from Beekman who attend public school are in the Arlington Central School District, which educates 10,000 from several towns. The district has 8 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and one high school. Students perform well, overall, on state exams, and 90% of recent graduates have gone on to higher education.
New home construction seems to be flourishing in Beekman. There are also several condominium complexes. Beekman is welcoming to homebuyers, with budgets big, small, and in the middle.

Beekman is a fun place to live as well as visit, if you like spending time in wooded, hilly Dutchess County NY. There’s always lots to do here for those who feel at home in nature as well as love to shop.

Residents enjoy the benefits of the community-friendly Beekman Library (your kids will get homework help and their summer reading list prepared); as well as the excellent Arlington School District (which also serves the town of LaGrange). As a former student of Arlington’s High School, I am grateful for Mr. Clark of 9th grade English who inspired me to want to become a teacher. There were several teachers there that I won’t forget. I only hope that it’s just as good for the students who go there today.

Nature lovers, make sure to visit For shopping, visit the Town’s hamlet Poughquag, where you’ll find two pharmacies, the A&E Italian Deli, a great pizzeria (Pleasant Ridge Pizzeria---make sure to go on Tuesday, where you can get the largest pie for only $9.00). Poughquag also has Barton Orchards, which is a pick-your-own orchard that is a great place for kids to pick apples for the first time, go on a hayride, run through a corn maze, and visit the animals. There’s live music and events like the Harvest Festival. It’s a great place to be and I personally have fond memories of going there with my family. The apples were delicious! Poughquag also has the Beekman Square Diner which is family run, for families. There’s even more shops and restaurants in nearby towns like East Fishkill and its popular hamlet of Hopewell Junction.

Dutchess County itself is filled with lots of fun things to do especially in the immediate surrounding areas. Poughkeepsie, for instance, offers Sprout Creek Farm, an educational working farm that also hosts a wonderful Summer Camp, and nearby Hopewell Junction is home to Sylvan Lake’s Beach Park, where you can go swimming, boating, as well as fishing and play volleyball and horseshoes (just like the old days), or simply just relax in the sun.

Beekman is a great community and really tries to reach out to its residents. There’s even “Friends of Seniors”, which offers seniors door-to-door services, and the Beekman Recreational Center is home to many activities such as swimming lessons and nights tailored to youth groups. Just visit Beekman and the natural beauty and friendly folk will make you want to stay forever!

Beekman is a town in Dutchess County with a friendly atmosphere, a close knit community and rich and colorful history. There are tons of historical sites to visit or photograph including The Old Upper Road, Town Hall, Toll Gate, The Beekman Furnace, Old Mill, Millstone, Green Haven Prison, Camp Whitman, Apoquage Friends Meeting, St Denis Church, Beekman Baptist Church, Beekmanville Baptist Church Cemetery, M.F. Church & Burial Grounds, Vanderburgh Burial Grounds, Rogers Burial Ground and Bentley Burial Ground. There will soon be a Historical Museum & Visitor’s Center in Beekman. The area is filled with mid to large scale homes, wooded areas and lovely lakes.

Beekman has a couple of restaurants including the family owned and operated Beekman Square Restaurant which is essentially a family-friendly diner with really good food and Pleasant Ridge Pizzeria which is said to have some of the best pizza around. For more options, I suggest you head on over to nearby Hopewell Junction.

Retail shopping in Beekman is slim to none but residents are only a good eleven miles from Poughkeepsie which has a ton of varied choices.

There are a number of good supermarkets in the immediate area including Stop & Shop in Hopewell Junction which is only 1.3 miles away and A & P in LaGrangeville which is only 3.3 miles away. That being said, it would be good to own a car if you are going to move here.

Beekman Library has many great resources including homework help, story times for various ages, arts & crafts events, Weight Watchers meetings, Yoga instruction, a Chess Club, Lego building events, various parties, movies and lectures.

Beekman has a very solid parks and recreation department and offers summer day camps, sports-specific camps, play groups, fitness classes, family fun nights, egg hunts, an annual Community Day, a teen leadership council, road trips to Lake Compounce and other fun destinations, swimming lesions, lifeguard training, teen party nights, parenting classes and an extensive seniors program including the wonderful “Friends of Seniors” Program which provides door to door transportation for its senior residents to run non-emergency related errands, etc. and much more. Beekman is home to Beyer Drive Soccer Field and is close to Beekman Recreation Park, Sylvan Lake Beach Park, Doherty Park and quite a few others in nearby Hopewell Junction.

Beekman Athletic Club offers baseball and softball.

Beekman students are a part of the Arlington Central School District which is quite good.

Beekman is pretty safe and the crime rate is relatively low.

The median household income is $65,610.

The population is approximately 14,621.

Beekman is one of the towns in the south central area of Dutchess County. Being closer to the eastern side of the county, one would probably assume that this is a rural, isolated area. True, it is still more isolated in some hamlets and census-designated areas within it, but Beekman, like much of the rest of Dutchess, is growing.

What used to be a lot of farmland -- well, still is farmland in some areas at least as far as I can tell, but there has definitely been more development in the town in recent years. There are homes to be had here and also in neighboring towns to the west, most of which have seen an explosion in housing with the increasing population. New places to live are popping up all over here.

What makes Beekman a more attractive option these days? Well, for one thing, it is away from the hustle and bustle of the Poughkeepsie area (as in, quieter, cleaner and safer) while still being close enough to major highways to get where you need to go. Commuting to New York City from here does happen, as hopping on the Taconic State Parkway going south is relatively easy and the nearest Metro North's Harlem Line train to the city is in Pawling, which also is not a terribly long distance. As far as other means of public transport, the Dutchess County Loop Bus's route does clip the town. Still, if you don't have a car, you won't be going much of anywhere.

There aren't any malls here -- you'll find some local businesses of quality but for the big retailers, you'll have to head out to either Poughkeepsie or Danbury. For restaurants, same thing: you will come across a few options, but for more, it's out of town you go. You won't be driving all day to find them, anyway, but as Beekman grows, expect the number of solid local options to grow along with it. There is no gym in Beekman, but there is at least one in a nearby town like LaGrange. Finally, with hospitals, you'll have to go either to Poughkeepsie or Carmel in Putnam County.

As one might imagine, there's not much to do in this town at this point in time, and having known residents of Beekman (Poughquag) in the past, I'm well aware of the fact that they had to go to the Poughkeepsie area to enjoy a night out. That was a personal preference I suppose, but one I imagine they'd still choose today if they still resided here. There is Sylvan Lake for some quiet local recreation, particularly in the summer, but its appeal is largely seasonal.

I can say with some level of certainty that Beekman is a pleasant locale to raise a family and/or settle down for whatever reason. It's growing, but is still not to the point where it's a full-fledged Poughkeepsie suburb yet. There's still plenty of greenery and enough quiet to live in peace.

At first glance Beekman might appear like a lot of other towns in Dutchess County, but it's actually one of the fastest growing towns in the country, and boom is apparent in the quality of the homes and many of the facilities.

Like other nearby towns, Beekman is picturesque. This is why I chose to live in the county, and I checked out Beekman quite a bit during my home search. It's very nice, with some great schools, and Beekman is exceptionally safe.

Unlike many other nearby towns, Beekman is fairly commercial, and there's less farmland than in the past, with more commercial enterprises coming into the area. This also makes Beekman a bit higher up on the social ladder than other towns. Just by looking at the homes you can tell the population is a bit better off. Sure, there are a few rundown places, but overall you have a lot of really beautiful and large homes that are stunning.

Beekman is about an hour North of NYC, so it's not a long drive if you want some excitement, because you won't find a ton in the town. That said, there are some decent dining options like the Beekman Pub, where you can get a fantastic burger and beer, but there aren't a ton of fine dining options. It is better than some of the local towns, and it's closer to other towns for more options.

You'll get a quiet but slightly more upper class existence in Beekman than some neighboring towns, and while you'll pay for it, it's not exactly pricey. You can get to the city for fun, and have an extremely safe and welcoming community to raise kids in or even live as a young couple. I don't recommend it for singles, but I could've been happy here if I could've afforded it. Maybe one day...