Kinderhook, New York

Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,357 as of 2018, making it the municipality with the most people in the county The name of the town comes from the phrase "bend in the corner where the children are" in the language of the original Dutch settlers, by the Dutch word "Kinderhoek." The eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook.
The city of Kinderhook has two villages and one hamlet.
Etymology.
Kinderhook was originally spelled 'Kinderhoek' by famous explorer Henry Hudson in 1609, when spotting some American Indian children looking at his ship, the Half Moon sailing upstream.
History.
Hudson had many other encounters with the Indians, who were from the Mohican tribe, such as trading and skirmishing. When the Dutch settled Kinderhook, they had further warfare. However, the Dutch and established it as a district in 1772 and a town in 1788. Since then, the town lost a lot of land to other towns. In 1775, Chatham took a significant portion of the town, followed by Ghent in 1818 and Stuyvesant in 1823. Kinderhook is one of the original towns of Columbia County and as a result is the most populous.
Geography.
The town has a total area of 32.4 square miles (83.9 km2), of which 31.8 square miles (82.4 km2) is land and 0.62 square miles (1.6 km2), or 1.87%, is water, including Kinderhook Lake, Kinderhook Creek, and the waterfalls of Valatie. The north part of the town forms the border between Columbia and Rensselar County. U.S. Route 9 and New York State Route 9H pass through Kinderhook.
Arts and culture.
The retirement home of U.S. President Martin Van Buren, Lindenwald is in Kinderhook, as well as the famous Luykas Van Alen House, a National Historic Landmark said to be the inspiration for the Van Tassel Family in Washington Irving's book "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", along with character Jesse Merwin. In honour of this fact, the Ichabod Crane schoolhouse was built next to the van Alen House in 1850, and is also a National Historic Landmark. The other two Landmarks are the James Vanderpoel House of History and the CCHS Museum &amp; Library Building.
The Columbia County Historical Society has its headquarters in Kinderhook. In addition to managing the four National Historic Landmarks of Kinderhook, it owns and displays a permanent collection of important genealogical materials, along with paintings, furniture, and other art related to the culture of Columbia County. 
The Martin Van Buren Public School now no longer holds classes, but does have an international gallery of contemporary art, named "The School". It is owned by the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City.
Demographics.
In the 2018 American Community Survey 5-Year-Estimate, there were 8,357 people. The races in Kinderhook were 94.6% white, 0.6% black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, 3.1% from other races, and 1% two or more races. 
In the town, the population was spread out with 4.4% under the age of 5, 78.7% between the ages of 18 and 65, and 21.7% above the age of 65. The average age was 48 years. 
The average income for full-time year-round workers in Kinderhook was $62,250 for males and $50,882 for females.
Government.
The current Town Supervisor is Patrice Leader.
Famous Residents.
Famous residents of Kinderhook include: