Valatie, whose name in Dutch means "Little Falls", is named after two waterfalls, from the Kinderhook Creek and the Valatie Kill.

    In ancient time the Mohegan tribe lived along these creeks in Pachaquak, today designated a 40 acre wild nature preserve.

    The Dutch came to the junction of the Kinderhook and Valatie kills about 1650, trappers and hunters in search of furs, particularly beaver.

    Millers established grist and lumber mills along the shores of the rushing water of both creeks by the 1690's, and farmers settled the fertile land nearby.

    In the 1820's Nathan Wild, a native of England, came to Valatie, attracted by the swift flowing waters. He and later his sons, particularly Charles, ran highly successful cotton mills there for more than 80 years. 

    As mills were built along the creek, mill workers, merchants, tradesmen and artisans soon followed. Valatie became one of the nations first industrial sites.

    The community thrived as stores and several inns lined Main Street.

    In the 1820's the community was simply called Millville.

    In 1832, the federal government opened a Post Office, with Dr. John Vanderpoel of the powerful Vanderpoel family of Kinderhook Village the first postmaster. The opening of the post office brought the name Valatie.

    The community organized churches early on: 1822 the  Methodist Episcopal Church; 1826 St. Luke's Lutheran Church; 1833 the Presbyterian Church.

   The village was incorporated in 1856, a vibrant mill village of Dutch, English, German and Scotts-Irish.  They produced much of the wealth of northern Columbia County as well as much of the needed services and trades.

    Its economy depended on the rise and fall of the cotton industry.

    The population through the centuries has remained stable at about 1,500.

    After the Irish Potato Famine in 1848 many Irish immigrants came to work in the mills.  St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church was established in 1871.

    The Glynns were one of the many Irish families who settled in the area to work as farm hands and mill operators   

    The son of an Irish immigrant, Martin H. Glynn (1871-1924) grew up in Valatie.  His family owned a tavern on Main Street.

    He later moved to Albany and became editor, publisher and owner of the Albany Times Union, became interested in Democratic politics and was elected a Congressman, state comptroller, lieutenant-governor and then New York governor (1913-1914).

    He was New York's first Roman Catholic governor, and he fought strong anti-Irish and anti-Catholic prejudice.

    The Glynn School and The Governor Glynn Village Square are named after him.

    Valatie citizens have an outstanding military record, starting in Revolutionary times.  The village had one of the highest casualty rates per capita in World War II with 14 killed.  A marker for these fallen heroes stands at the Memorial War Garden in the Glynn Square.

    Veterans returning from World War II formed The Valatie Santa Claus Club-the first in the nation-to bring gifts on Christmas Eve to all the children in the village.  

    The six-foot carved wooden Santa statue in the Santa Park on Main Street is dedicated to the club.

    Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" fame spent her last years in Valatie at Barnwell Nursing Facilities.

    Several mansions and large houses as well as the First Presbyterian Church are important for their architecture.  The church designed by Ogden and Wright after an old German church, is on the National Registry, and is Nathan Wild's house on Main Street.

    Valatie today is a vibrant blue collar community which has recently experienced business and residential growth.

(Source: Dominick C. Lizzi)