Mahopac was originally inhabited by the
Wappinger people, an
Algonquian tribe. The hamlet's land was part of a huge tract encompassing all of today's
Putnam County patented in 1697 by
Adolphus Philipse, son of a wealthy Anglo-Dutch gentryman, known as the
Philipse Patent. During the
French and Indian War, Wappingers throughout Putnam County traveled north to
Massachusetts to fight for the British. When the
British Crown refused to return their land after the war, most Wappingers abandoned the area, concentrating in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts before relocating with other displaced Native Americans elsewhere. Farmers and their families migrated to Mahopac from as far away as
Cape Cod and rented land from the Philipse family. Wheelwrights and blacksmiths set up shops to assist the tenant farmers. Although no battles were fought in Mahopac during the
American Revolution, the area was strategically important due to its location. With troop encampments in nearby
Patterson,
Yorktown,
West Point, and
Danbury, Connecticut, it was a cross-roads between key Colonial garrisons. Soldiers were stationed in Mahopac Falls to guard the Red Mills, an important center for grinding grain and storing flour for the American troops. Upon Colonial victory in the Revolution, the
Tory-sympathizing Philipse family lost its claim to the land, which was then resold to farmers and speculators by New York State. After the incorporation of Putnam County in 1812 the Mahopac area grew steadily. By the middle-19th century the hamlet had become a summer resort community. The
New York and Harlem Railroad brought vacationers north from New York City to
Croton Falls. Hotels would often have competing races of decorated horse-drawn coaches bringing passengers from the train to Lake Mahopac. After the
Civil War a direct rail spur was laid, creating boom times for the village. The locale remained primarily a summer resort until after
World War II, when nearby highways such as the
Taconic State and
Saw Mill River parkways began to make travel by automobile convenient. With the passing of the
New York Central Putnam Division's last passenger service to Mahopac in 1959, the hamlet evolved into a year-round community, many of its residents making the commute to New York City. ==Geography==