Red Hook

Red Hook, a town in Dutchess County’s northwestern corner, consists of two villages, Tivoli and Red Hook, and several hamlets. Its population is 11,319, spread across 40 square miles. The land was initially occupied by the Esopus and Seposco Indians. Dutch navigators, who arrived from the river, first observed the peninsula-shaped area covered with red foliage and named it “Red Hoek.”

Recreation opportunities are plentiful. The Red Hook Recreational Park has a public pool and holds pool parties for children and teens. Several sports programs are available, including girls’ field hockey and lacrosse. Stevenson Gymnasium, located on the campus of Bard College, is open to the public in the summer. It has sports fields and courts, a pool and a fitness center. The Red Hook Golf Club is a semi-private club established in 1931, with 18 holes. The most unique of Red Hook’s recreational facilities, though, is Poets’ Walk Park, a 120 acre property developed in 1949. It was designed to celebrate the connection between nature and literature, and reportedly inspired many 19th century writers.

The town has an excellent school system, one of the strongest in the county. Mill Road has a primary division for kindergarten through second grade and an intermediate school for third through fifth graders. At Linden Avenue Middle School, qualified students can take Regents exams in two subjects, allowing them to begin earning credits for their high school diploma. U.S. News and World Report recently ranked Red Hook High School 38th out of 370 in NY, and 221 out of 21,776 nationally. The high school has excellent sports teams, as well as a renowned drama department.

There are no big strip malls or shopping centers. However, there are shops and restaurants located throughout the town. The Chocolate Factory is one collection of small businesses; it’s no longer a chocolate factory. It includes an art framer, a florist, a preschool, and a few doctors’ offices.

Many residents are part-timers who reside in New York City during the week. Though there is no train service to the town, it is a two-hour trip by car via the Taconic Parkway. Whether the search is for a weekend home or a full-time dwelling, home shoppers will find options across a wide range of prices.

Red Hook is an utterly charming village within the parent town of the same name.

Red Hook does have some terrific eateries including Mercato Osteria and Enoteca is an absolutely adorable café, pasta shop and wine bar run by a Butoni brand family member, Max’s Memphis BBQ which produces excellent smoked meats, the sophisticated Flatiron Restaurant with its quirky burgers (one is actually made of duck) and sumptuous steaks, the Historic Village Diner, a nostalgic pre-fabricated dining car made in the 1920’s, An Apple a Day Diner, Red Hook Curry House, Salvatore’s Original Pizza, Hana Sushi, Dunkin Donuts and Subway. Taste Budd’s Chocolate and Coffee Café serves alternative foods, dazzling pastries and sweets and has rotating art exhibitions and live music.

There isn’t a ton of shopping here, but you will find the amazing Me Oh My Pie Shop and Café, Red Hook Drugstore, Annex Antiques Center, Cider Mill Antiques, East Market Street Antiques, Tiki Boutique, Wiltsie Bridge Country Store, Chocolate Factory, Sipperley’s Grog Shop, Kids Shop, The Awards Shop, and CVS.

Also, just a few miles away in gorgeous Rhinebeck, NY you have a fun slew of cool boutiques, shops and outlets like Rhinebeck Antiques Fair, Asher House Antiques, Warren Kitchen & Cutlery, Hudson Valley Blooms, Northern Dutchess Pharmacy, Cabin Fever Outfitters, Hummingbird Jewelers, Montgomery Row, SugarPlum Boutique, Workers and Dreamers, Winter Sun and Summer Moon, Darryl’s, EB’s Hudson Valley Finds, Pet Country, Haldora, Floral Fantasies by Sara, Paper Trail, Rhinebeck Artist’s Shop, Chamonix Bride, Wing and Clover, Country Comfort Furniture, Hammertown, Wonderland Florist, Hudson Valley Footwear, Verizon Wireless, A.L. Stickle Variety Store, Oblong Books and Music, Merriweather’s, Madison’s Avenue and The Pottery Shack. You can easily make a fun afternoon of it.

There is a local Hannaford supermarket and Red Hook Natural Foods for grocery shopping. If you want to pick your own raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples and pumpkins, just head on over to the lovely Greigs Farm which also houses an indoor farmer’s market and a café.

For local entertainment, there is the Lyceum Six Cinemas and Ro-Rin Lanes which is a bowling alley with a miniature golf course on the premises, as well. The Old Rhinebeck Aerodome in is a fun family-friendly outing, for sure. It is, essentially, a museum with an amazing collection of early airplanes, motorcycles, cars, engines and other assorted memorabilia from 1900 to 1935. They offer biplane rides and hold air shows on the weekends from mid June to mid October.

The Richard B. Fischer Center for Performing Arts at the exceptional Bard College has two great theatres and dance studios. It produces outstanding plays, shows fine films, holds a summer music festival and often brings in big name acts like Buckwheat Zydeco.

Red Hook has a pretty good parks and recreation program as well as some quality senior resident activities. Red Hook Recreation Park is a popular area park and has a very popular Olympic sized pool and playground, handball courts, basketball courts, baseball and soccer fields, an outside running track and an inside fitness center with cardio and weight lifting equipment and classes. Poets Walk Park is an idyllic place to hike with amazing views of the Hudson River, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and the Catskill Mountains. Some say this is where Rudyard Kipling dreamed up his famous Rip Van Winkle story!

Red Hook village students are a part of Red Hook Central Schools which are considered high quality and have an excellent sports program to boot.

The village is pretty safe and the crime rate is relatively low.

The median household income of the town of Red Hook is roughly 46,701.

The population of the greater town of Red Hook is approximately 11, 319.

Red Hook is in the northwest corner of Dutchess County. Its northern border is the beginning of Columbia County, its western border the Hudson River. There is still a grand, 19th century pastoral feel to this area, with lush, protected areas around the river and a great assortment of beautifully restored old Victorians. The town revels in its connections to old-style life: there is still an annual meeting of the Red Hook Society for the Apprehension and Detention of Horse Thieves, and its town government actually has an Ethics Board.

The Town of Red Hook included the Village of Red Hook, the Village of Tivoli, and 8 hamlets, one of which, Annandale-on-Hudson, is home to Bard College. The area has a mix of people who have been here for generations, artists, college students, and New Yorkers escaping the city to their second homes.

The Red Hook School District is excellent. Children attend Mill Road Primary (K-2), Mill Road Intermediate (3-5), Linden Ave Middle (6-8), and Red Hook High School, which was included in U.S. News & World Report's 2012 ranking of the best high schools in America. The high school's rankings are 38th out of 370 schools in New York State, and 221st out of 21,776 high schools in the U.S.

The Red Hook Recreation Center/Park has sports facilities, a playground, and an indoor fitness center. The Poet’s Walk trail is about two miles, and has lovely fields that slope down to the river and views of the Catskills.

Visitors can stay at any number of beautiful Bed & Breakfasts, and golfers will be delighted by the semi-private Red Hook Golf Club, an 18-hole course famous for its drainage system – which may not seem all that important until a downpour of several days turns your course into a lake. There is also a good restaurant on the grounds.

You must check out the 110-acre Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome (actually in Red Hook) which has an incredible collection of flying pioneer, WW-I, and Lindbergh era airplanes. There are air shows every Saturday and Sunday summer through fall, weather permitting, and special events – like a British Car Rally. Thrill-seekers can put on a vintage-looking helmet and goggles and take a ride in a bi-plane, 1,2000 feet in the air.

You can spend a different kind of afternoon exploring Montgomery Place, a restored Federal-style house designed by Alexander Jackson Davis. This gorgeous house is surrounded by 434 acres of forest, fields, and waterfalls, as well as gardens designed by Alexander Jackson Downing. The views are stunning, and you can buy seasonal fruit at the Montgomery Place Orchards Farm Stand.

Red Hook is a charming village located within the town of Rhinebeck, named after Dutch settlers arrived to see the Fall foliage on a peninsula named Cruger’s Island (peninsula in Dutch is “hoek”, and thus, they christiened the place “Red Hook”. Once home to Native Americans both of the Iroquois and Wappingers legacy, Red Hook is now home to 11,319 and spans 40.1 square miles. with easy access to US9 and Rt 9G.

There’s two villages within Red Hook: one of the same name and another, Trivoli. There’s also two hamlets: Annadale-on-Hudson (famous for being the home of world-renowned Bard College, a 4-year-length science and liberal arts college known for its majestic theater house and community involvement in the arts). Here in Red Hook, you’re right near the Art Center for the Greater Hudson Valley, and the Aerodome, which houses beautiful antique planes and cars (you’ll see old-fashioned planes flying and geared-up cars running like brand new). Rhinebeck is also home to the Historic Village of Rhinebeck and the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, where there’s an old-time county fair held annually, as well as a flea market and farmer’s market is also in town.

The Rhinebeck school district is excellent, and more than 80% will go on to receive a higher education. Nearby transportation includes Rhinebeck’s Rhinecliff-Kingston train station and Newburgh’s Stewart Airport, as well as Rhinebeck’s Dutchess County Hospital, and nearby Kingston Hospital. Rhinebeck proper has a wonderful library, the Starr Library, which really makes an extra effort to get involved with the community. When compared to the rest of NY, Red Hook isn’t too expensive for middle class families (owning a home costs anywhere between $220,000 to $500,000---but this all depends on what you’re looking for) . Plus, you’ll have all of Red Hook---and Rhinebeck’s---great restaurants and shopping opportunities! Red Hook has charming restaurants like the Curry House (authentic Northern Indian Quizine), as well as your typical fast-food places like Quiznos (which everyone will love). There’s even a night club, Enigma, and you can continue your night club hopping in NYC, as Red Hook is right near the train station in Rhinebeck. (Red Hook also has plenty of sports and grille bars.)

Shops have adorable names like “Me-Oh-My Pie” Cafe and Pie Shop, the “Holy Cow” ice cream parlor, and “Hooked On Dogs” pet supply.Also, while you’re here, don’t forget Taste Budd’s Chocolate and Coffee, and Basic French: a unique boutique for anything French! It’s the culture, performing arts, restaurants, night life, and cute shops like these that draw people to Red Hook. Come for a visit---it’ll make you want to stay here forever!

Red Hook is the town in the northwestern corner of Dutchess County, pressed along the very scenic Hudson River. Most of its activity is contained within its two villages, Red Hook (village) and Tivoli, each of which offers a little different feel.

In Tivoli, you've got the prime location on the Hudson River, the trendy feeling, and the presence of the arts. In Red Hook's village, you have the larger community, the local businesses, and more places to go. What unites them, other than being in the same town, is that both of them, and everything in between, is bucolic, quiet, peaceful, and a wonderful place to raise a family in some peace.

Now, it's not perfect, especially if you want to live in an area where everything you could possibly need is a short drive (or even a walk) away. Red Hook is not that kind of town. You'll need a car to get around here, and even at that, Red Hook doesn't have everything. For example, there is no hospital here -- you'll find that in Rhinebeck or Kingston, if you feel like crossing over the river. You will also not see major retailers; for those, it's either Kingston to the west or Poughkeepsie to the south. Finally, there's not a ton of nightlife, despite there being solid places to dine out.

What you will find are some quality local businesses, including a number of restaurants which have been pleasing the community for years. Generally speaking, you've got good variety amongst them (Italian, Chinese, Japanese, et al.) and most peoples' needs are met. The big chain restaurants (like your TGI Friday's or Chili's) don't exist here; those are in Kingston and/or the Poughkeepsie area. You will also find some fitness facilities, a supermarket and drug store, and a few specialty shops.

Red Hook rarely gets swamped with traffic, though at times you'll see cars passing through. At peak hours, Route 9 can get a little busy, as it does in all towns it passes through in Dutchess County, but it's markedly less than you'd see in Poughkeepsie. Public transportation reaches here in the form of the Dutchess County Loop Bus, but there is no train access from Red Hook. I would imagine that commuting from here to New York City would be on the impossible end, unless you like spending close to 5 hours a day in the car; more likely than not, you'd have to seek out local opportunities. There are a few, but bigger cities like Kingston and Poughkeepsie have more.

The school system in Red Hook is known area-wide to be rather good. There is also a university here, Bard College, in the Annandale-on-Hudson neighborhood. Yes, part of Red Hook is a "college town."

In spite of that, there's nothing wrong with wanting to raise a family here or settle into a peaceful lifestyle. A number of houses are quite nice, some of them antiquated (in a good sense: they're older, but they're kept up beautifully). Further, it's just a nice community with a good neighborhood feel. You could do far worse than this town; it's worth a look.

Red Hook is a 40.1 square mile town in Dutchess County. It has a friendly feel and an old-fashioned down home atmosphere. Houses there range from small to medium size single family dwellings to pretty Victorians to more large scale Colonials. It has some wonderful outdoor recreational activities, a few decent entertainment options, some good eateries and lots of gorgeous scenery to go around.

Dining out options in Red Hook include Mercato Osteria and Enoteca which is an absolutely adorable café, pasta shop and wine bar with a Butoni-famed family member at its helm. They turn out some pretty exciting and delectable pasta dishes. Even Iron Chef Mario Batali brings his family here! Other notables are Max’s Memphis BBQ which serves up some pretty stellar hickory smoked meats, the casual but sophisticated Flatiron Restaurant with its luscious oysters, eclectic burgers (one made of duck) and five different succulent steak selections, the Historic Village Diner which is actually a nostalgic pre-fabricated dining car made in the 1920’s, An Apple a Day Diner, Red Hook Curry House, Salvatore’s Original Pizza, Hana Sushi, a Dunkin Donuts and a Subway.

Another fun little place to hang out a while is Taste Budd’s Chocolate and Coffee Café with its alternative foods, yummy pastries, tasty confections, art exhibitions and live music.

Shopping is scant but the town does have a few spots like the amazing Me Oh My Pie Shop and Café, Red Hook Drugstore, Annex Antiques Center, Cider Mill Antiques, East Market Street Antiques, Wiltsie Bridge Country Store, a CVS Pharmacy and a Hannaford supermarket for grocery shopping.

Gigi Market is a wonderful indoor farmer’s market and café located on the 500-acre Greigs Farm. Greig’s Farm also has wonderful pick your own raspberries, blueberries, blackberries opportunities as well as apple-picking and pumpkin picking.

Red Hook has a good parks and recreation program as well as some decent senior activities. Red Hook Recreation Center/Park is a beloved area destination and has a very popular Olympic sized pool and playground, handball courts, basketball courts, baseball and soccer fields, an outside running track and an inside fitness center with cardio and weight lifting equipment and classes. Poets Walk Park is a romantic place to hike with great views of the Hudson River, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and the Catskill Mountains. Some say this is where Rudyard Kipling found inspiration to write Rip Van Winkle!

Also in town is the Red Hook Golf Club.

Red Hook is home to Lyceum Six Cinemas and a miniature golf course at Ro-Rin Lanes which is a bowling center with twenty lanes.

Red Hook is part of the Red Hook Central Schools which is considered excellent. Also, the sports programs in the high school are pretty high caliber.

Red Hook is quite safe and the crime rate is pretty low.

The median income for a household is about $46,701.

The population of Red Hook is approximately 11,319 and is 94% White,

Just because Red Hook is small doesn't mean there's nothing around. It's not like some of the other towns in the more rural areas of Dutchess County, particularly those further away from Poughkeepsie.

For the most part, when it comes to modern conveniences that people look for when trying to find a place to live, Red Hook has you covered. There is a supermarket, a pharmacy, a few stores, restaurants, gas stations, a gym, and schools. There is also even a movie theater in town, for those looking for something to do on a night out. There aren't a ton of options in terms of bars or things like that, but restaurants yes.

Red Hook has some nice buildings in the center of town which are kept up well, giving it some of that small town feel, and yet there are enough local businesses and other non-residential establishments around that you don't feel very isolated, either. As far as neighborhoods go, this tends to be a close-knit community and is a clean, green, and quiet place to enjoy your life and raise a family. Bard College is not far away, but it's far enough that it doesn't feel much like a college town.

Public transportation does reach here by way of the Dutchess County Loop Bus, which has a line running from Poughkeepsie to its south to Tivoli to the north. As far as trains go, the Metro North line to New York City doesn't reach up this far, and though there is an Amtrak line to the west, the closest stops are in Poughkeepsie and Albany, which probably won't be of much utility to you on a daily basis. The good news is that the bus system does visit the big malls in Poughkeepsie, so if driving isn't an option for you, that is available. Traffic into and out of Red Hook can get a little busy at peak hours, but there are places in the county with much worse.

There's not much to Red Hook about which one can complain. It's a cozy town with enough amenities nearby that you won't be bored all the time, you won't have to drive half an hour to go food shopping, you can enjoy a nice meal out of the house, you can find a place of worship if that's your choice, and you can raise your family in peace.

Red Hook is an interesting little town. I'd call it very family friendly, and the local golf course is a big attraction for me, and represents most of my experience here.

First, I know Red Hook is pretty family oriented, and the schools are good. In fact, I've heard from more than one source about how proud the parents are of both the academic and athletic successes of the local public schools, which I believe are Mill Road Elementary, Linden Avenue Middle School and Red Hook High School. They've competed and done fairly well in state wide sporting events, and I know they're super proud of that, which, though I don't have kids and am not the most athletic dude in the world, is very attractive to me. I think I'd want my kids to go to schools where there's such a community spirit. I think it breeds better friendships, and I see Red Hook as really making a lot of great, lasting friendships.

For me, Red Hook is also attractive because of Hook Golf Club. I've only enjoyed a few chances to play a round here, but I've always enjoyed it. Hook Golf Club is a really beautiful course, and it is quite well maintained. I was talking to a buddy of mine, and he said they keep costs down too in order to promote membership, so it's not too expensive, yet you get a similar course to far more expensive options. It's important to me to find a good place to enjoy the great outdoors, and you could do a heck of a lot worse than Hook Golf Club.

I also have noticed a number of pretty good restaurants in the area, and while none are particularly standout to me, they're all pretty good and will keep you well fed, and with enough options to not go bored overnight. You could have it a lot worse.

I really like Red Hook, and when I have kids I will definitely consider moving there. You get a really nice, family-friendly town with good golf and a great overall atmosphere.