The ND&C was built as the Dutchess and Columbia railroad under the guidance of George
H. Brown of Millbrook. The grand idea was to construct a line to ferry material across
the Hudson River from the Erie at Newburgh and carry it into Connecticut, while also
serving the farms and quarries of Dutchess County.
Beginning in 1867 the D&C built a line north from Dutchess Junction, south of present
day Beacon, along the Fishkill Creek toward the village of Millbrook by way of Hopewell.
Meanwhile the northern part was being built from Pine Plains in a southerly direction
toward Millbrook, by way of Stanfordville.
After completion, the line was leased to the Boston, Hartford, & Erie (BH&E), which
controlled the railroad with ideas of bringing in a line from Waterbury Connecticut. By 1871 the
D&C had extended from Pine Plains eastward to the village of Millerton where a connection with
the Connecticut Western was established. The BH&E failed and after some further court and
financial situations, the railroad in 1876 reorganized as the Newburgh, Dutchess, and Connecticut
.
After the New York & New England line was built from Connecticut into
Hopewell in 1881, the original section of the D&C southeast of Hopewell was leased to the NY&NE
for access to ferry service at Fishkill Landing
Visit the past of Hopewell by viewing the old pictures.
The map to the left shows the Dutchess County lines in 1895.
The map is pieced together from two sections of a larger map that had the southern portion of
the area covered here in an inset.
