History & Photo Gallery
The History of Delaware County by W.W. MUNSELL 1797-1880
From www.dcnyhistory.org. Electronic text by Kim DePew, MI; and Shirley Becker, CA
The territory of Hamden was, like that of Delhi, in the counties of Otsego and Ulster prior to 1797. The portion southeast of the river is in great lots 37 and 38 of the Hardenberg patent. The town contains about 54 square miles.
The name was given because of the close resemblance of the country to Hampden, a county of Massachusetts bordering upon Connecticut, to which many of the early settlers were very partial; but when a post-office was asked the p was dropped that the name might not coincide with that of another office in the State. The territory of Hamden was included in Walton during the year 1797, and was mostly included in Delhi from 1798 to 1825, when the rapid increase in the population of Delhi and Walton induced the formation of Hamden. The substance of the act creating the new town, passed by the legislature April 4th, 1825, is that from and after the 1st of the following March parts of Delhi and Walton should be comprehended in a town to be called Hamden, and with the following boundary: "Beginning on a division line between Delhi and Andes, where the line between great lots 38 and 39 of the Hardenberg tract intersects the same; thence northwesterly on said lot line to the east branch of the Delaware river; thence down said river to where the westerly line of the Whitesborough patent strikes the same; thence northwesterly along the Whitesborough line to the town of Franklin; thence along the line of Franklin to the Walton line; thence southeasterly along the Walton line to the northeasterly corner of lot 2 in the Babbington patent; thence southwesterly to the northwesterly corner of lot 96 in the Livingston patent; thence on the westerly line of said lot to the river; thence down said river to the lower line of the land of Herman H. Bear; thence southeasterly on that lower line to the line between Walton and Colchester; thence along the lines of Colchester and Andes to the place of the beginning."
One of the notable homes in the town of Hamden is the Octagon House, currently owned by Marion and Leland Ploutz. Builder, John Hawley, inspired by the multitude of natural stone on the land, created the home and other buildings on the property to resemble structures from his homeland. Built in 1856, the unique home is well-designed with 10 rooms and features an open circular stairway at the center.
