Breathless, you arrive at the ice-smothered Hudson, radiant in the moonlight. A local takes you across by sleigh, past gaping holes and creaking cracks. On the far shore, you meet a fishmonger known for using lamps and horn blasts to secretly communicate his plans for helping freedom-seekers like yourself find shelter. He drives you a few miles to a swampy backwoods village, a collection of huts and hovels. It may look unimpressive, but you’ll be among friends—safe, at least for one night, and most importantly, free.
These days, Baxtertown Road runs for two miles north and west of Fishkill. Nothing remains of the 19 th-century hamlet it’s named after. There is, however, a state historic sign, set up 10 years ago, noting the former location of Baxtertown’s Zion Pilgrim African Methodist Episcopal Church. Built in 1848, the church burnt to the ground around 1930. While it stood, it was at the center of a small but vibrant rural community, largely populated by free Black families, which reportedly served as a station on the Underground Railroad.
Ronald Greene, who owns the site, bought his property some 30 years ago without knowing any of that. He soon heard rumors, though, and began a years-long campaign to call attention to the important history that had taken place there. In 2013, Greene paid for an Albany-based archaeological firm to excavate the property. Along with dozens of eager volunteers, the crew turned up a number of artifacts from the 1700s and 1800s, including nails, pipe stems, pieces of glass, and stoneware. They also found the remains of the church’s stone and brick foundation, exactly where old maps indicated they would.
Rural Black hamlets like Baxtertown fostered close-knit communities and allowed residents to avoid unwanted scrutiny.
Baxtertown’s origins remain murky. Some accounts claim it began as a refuge for Wappinger natives, who then intermarried with free Black people and runaways from Southern bondage. Others say the village was founded by a white Fishkill enslaver who settled his former servants there after New York abolished slavery in 1827. Research conducted by Fishkill town historian Antonia F. Houston suggests it may have been named for a local doctor, William M. Baxter.
Whatever its origins, rural Black hamlets like Baxtertown fostered close-knit communities and allowed residents to avoid unwanted scrutiny. But the decision to live on the region’s least desirable land was probably shaped more by poverty and prejudice.
Greene has “beautified” the church site with mulch and plantings that trace the outline of the still-submerged foundation. He is proud of the sign he fought to see erected. “I was relentless,” he says. “I just never went away.” But Greene also knows there’s more to be discovered. Sometimes, after heavy rains, new objects rise to the surface—including clam shells, likely left (documents show) from fish fries the Baxtertown church often held as community get-togethers.
“This area is replete with history,” Greene says. Thanks to him, an important, nearly forgotten chapter of that history is now more widely known.
Related: The Hudson River Was a Focal Point for the American Revolution
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