Beacon, New York
About Beacon
Beacon is a city on the eastern shore of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York. It is known as a former hat-making town and for Mount Beacon behind it. Its nicknames are The Hat Making Capital of the US and Hat-manufacturing capital of New York. About 14,931 people live here (2025).
Beacon at a glance
- Founded
- 1913 Wikipedia
- Population
- 14,931 Census Population Estimates, 2025
- County
- Dutchess County U.S. Census Bureau
- State
- New York U.S. Census Bureau
- Land area
- 4.7 sq mi Census Gazetteer, 2026
- Nearest city
- Danbury, CT · 37 miles by road OpenStreetMap routing
- ZIP code
- 12508 Wikidata
- Area code
- 845 Wikidata
- Nicknames
- “The Hat Making Capital of the US”, “Hat-manufacturing capital of New York” Wikipedia
- Known for
- Hat Making Capital of the US; Dia Beacon art museum Wikipedia
How Beacon became Beacon
- 1683Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck bought the land that would include Beacon from the Wappinger tribe.
- 1709The Bretts settled the community that later became Beacon.
- 1743A ferry linking Beacon and Newburgh across the Hudson dated back to as early as this year.
- 1814The Matteawan Company opened as a cotton mill and later led the local hat trade.
- 1800sBeacon became a factory town with nearly 50 hat factories operating at one time.
- 1902The Mount Beacon Incline Railway opened, with a maximum grade of 74 percent.
- 1913Beacon incorporated as a city, combining Fishkill Landing and Matteawan with a small part of Glenham.
- 1926The Beacon Dummy Light was first installed at Main and East Main Streets.
- 1963The Newburgh-Beacon Bridge was dedicated in November and replaced the ferry.
Beacon today
Beacon today has riverfront and neighborhood parks, a Main Street with monthly gallery openings, and yearly community events.
- Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront ParkThis riverfront park hosts the Sloop Club's Strawberry Festival.
- Second SaturdayGalleries and shops on Main Street open late each month.
- Spirit of Beacon DayThis yearly event is held in September.
- Beacon Sloop Club Pumpkin FestivalThis is a yearly event in Beacon.
- Madam Brett HomesteadIt preserves the home of Catheryna and Roger Brett and is called the oldest building in Dutchess County.
Coming up
Shop local: Beacon’s locally owned favorites →
Did you know?
The Mount Beacon Incline Railway ran from 1902 to 1978 and carried an estimated 3.5 million people to the summit.
Fishkill Landing was an important river port and the earliest ferry landing on the Hudson.
The Roundhouse at Beacon Falls, an old factory and machine shop, made some of America's first lawnmowers.
Warren Dibble built a roller rink in 1884, then built the Dibble Opera House by 1886 when skating didn't catch on.
An electric streetcar connected Beacon with the Village of Fishkill from August 27, 1892, to April 20, 1930.
Dutchess Hat Works closed in 1948 and about 250 people lost their jobs.
Main Street's historic East End looks much the same as it did in the 1870s.
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Sources and photo credits
- Beacon, New York (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Census Population Estimates www2.census.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau geocoding.geo.census.gov
- Census Gazetteer www2.census.gov
- OpenStreetMap routing router.project-osrm.org
- Wikidata wikidata.org
- hmdb.org: M hmdb.org
- What to See and Do in Beacon, New York - Untapped New York untappedcities.com
- City of Beacon Scenic Resources Inventory beaconny.gov
- atlasobscura.com: Mount Beacon Incline Railway atlasobscura.com
- A History of Beacon As It Celebrates Its Centennial in 2013 hvmag.com
- OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap: Pete and Toshi Seeger Riverfront Park (319611566) openstreetmap.org
- What Exactly is Second Saturday in Beacon? wrrv.com
- facebook.com: Spiritofbeaconday facebook.com
- OpenStreetMap: OpenStreetMap: Madam Brett Homestead (468951491) openstreetmap.org
- alittlebeaconblog.com: Story Screen alittlebeaconblog.com
- Hats Off to Beacon scenichudson.org
Every photo’s author, licence and source: Photo credits.