New Guinea Community, Hyde Park, NY

From 1790 to 1850 there was a settlement of free Blacks and some White people in what is now Hyde Park, NY. “Guinea” is a reference to the Guinea Coast in West Africa. Many of the residents were formerly enslaved by the owners of large estates here along the Hudson River.  There still exist some foundations and stone walls at this National Register of Historic Places site at Hackett Hill Park. (https://www.hydeparkny.us/336/New-Guinea-Community)

In addition to this free Black community and large estates along the Hudson, there was also a large Quaker settlement further inland, which was a radical abolitionist stronghold. The Quakers moved to Dutchess County to escape persecution in New England for their call for “plainess”, for the abolition of slavery and equal treatment of women. Their views were considered radical and unwelcome.