Red Hook Town Board Minutes

The Town of Red Hook’s earliest Board Minutes record business matters such as the elections of officials, monies to be raised for the poor, and votes on roads, bridges and school districts. Beginning in 1813, the year after Red Hook separated from the Rhinebeck Precinct and became its own Township, meetings were held annually, the first Tuesday in April, at private homes or inns. The minutes begin April 6, 1813, with the first item of business noted as the establishment of regulations to control stray livestock. That same year, eight school districts were established, with families in each school district named. Entries run through Sept 1866, after the end of the Civil War.