The present-day neighborhood of Scotchtown covers a large area of Three Mile Hill, an undulating rise of ground running north and south for nearly three miles (hence the name). On maps published around the time of the Revolution, the elevation was shown as a part of a chain of hills, often called “Bradeords Hills”, between the Wallkill River and the Shawangunk Kill. The early settlements of Michigan and Scotchtown were both located on high portions of this hill. [1]

According to another tradition, “Three Mile Hill” was the name of an old path running along the eastern base of the hill itself, so-called because it was exactly three miles to the Wallkill River. [2] The highest point is at a place called Baldwin Hill. This geological survey map from 1908 shows a large section of the hill and generally gives a good impression of the natural landscape of the area.

The elevation of Three Mile Hill may have been one of the reasons why so many Scottish families settled here. Mildred Parker Seese once observed, “In the character of the Scotch-Irish who had a large part in populating Orange County there was something that demanded a long, broad view of the world, a view to fill the spiritual as well as the physical eye… Men with the blood of Scotland in their veins seldom stopped in the valleys; so wherever you find an old house on a hill you may be pretty sure the builder was in some degree a Scot.” [3]

Copyright © 2005 ScotchtownHighlander.com