Bill Frattarola, Jr. · Houlihan Lawrence

About Carmel

Carmel is a town located in Putnam County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 33,006. It is the county seat of Putnam County.

The Town of Carmel is on the south border of the county. The town hall is in Mahopac.

Carmel History

The town was first settled around 1740 by George Hughson. On the night of April 26, 1777, after learning the news that the British had begun burning nearby Danbury, Connecticut, sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington rode her horse, Star, the entire night through the towns of Carmel, Mahopac, Kent Cliffs and Farmers Mills warning those along the way that the British were coming before returning home at dawn. A statue memorializing the female Paul Revere sits alongside Lake Gleneida.

Carmel was established from part of the Town of Kent (then known as Frederickstown) in 1795. Carmel was designated the county seat in 1812. In 1861, a small part of Carmel was taken to be added to the Town of Putnam Valley. In 1924, much of the town burned.

Carmel Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.7 square miles (105.4 kmē), of which, 36.1 square miles (93.5 kmē) of it is land and 4.6 square miles (11.9 kmē) of it is water. The total area is 11.26% water.

The south town line is the border of Westchester County, New York. The town is located approximately fifty miles north of New York City (measured from Central Park) and approximately ten miles west of Danbury, Connecticut.

Celebrities from Carmel

The name of the hamlet/town is almost always pronounced "CAR-m'l", unlike many other Carmels in the United States, such as Carmel, California, which is "car-MEL." The hamlet of Mahopac is notoriously divided between "MAY-oh-pak" and "muh-HO-pak."